


Amaranthus

by abnegative



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:20:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22815304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abnegative/pseuds/abnegative
Summary: Vampire / Faerie auMingyu x Wonwoo + other shipsThe Vagrant Prince wanders the earth searching for his lost crown hoping his full power will be restored when he finds it. The crown is hiding deep inside a forest, surrounded by the everlasting amaranth, and isn’t what he was expecting.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 26
Kudos: 122





	1. Chapter 1

_ A Rose and an Amaranth blossomed side by side in a garden, _

_ and the Amaranth said to her neighbor, _

_ "How I envy you your beauty and your sweet scent! _

_ No wonder you are such a universal favorite." _

_ But the Rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice, _

_ "Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for a time: _

_ my petals soon wither and fall, and then I die. _

_ But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut; _

_ for they are everlasting." _

_ Aesop - sixth century BC _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be kind I haven’t written anything like this in a long time.
> 
> This will be different from my other chartered works in that updates will be longer but less frequent.
> 
> Leave a comment please xxx

The night was fresh and new as he opened his tired heavy eyes. The first thing he thought of was the same thing that consumed his consciousness every time he woke. The thing he craved for, lusted over, the one thing that fuelled his existence.

Not blood but his crown.

He needed the blood as well though. No matter where he found it he was never satisfied. Condemned to a life devoid of satiety Mingyu wandered the world with his band of brothers never knowing what if was to be full. The Vagrant Prince they called him, a king without a kingdom, a Prince without a crown, his royal bloodline all he had to his name.

“It’s cold tonight,” he called out and he heard a giggle. The sound was cute and carried on the wind blowing through the condemned warehouse but the figure that followed the voice was anything but. His first lieutenant, Junhui, was beautiful and frightening, limber and skilled and smart. “It is cold. Won’t be many people on the streets. Better for them.”

“Yeah, but I’m sick of being hungry.” Mingyu stood up from the cement floor and shook himself off. They called him the Vagrant Prince and he definitely looked the part. His tattered fur coat was dusty from the bare concrete bed on the floor of the abandoned warehouse they’d taken up residence in and a few leaves were stuck to his hair. “You’re a mess,” Junhui’s smile softened into fondness as he helped his Prince fix himself up.

“Dinner time!” a voice echoed though the building and Junhui cringed. “It’s awake,” he said just in time as a ball of energy barrelled in through the open doorway. “Where the fuck did you get that?” Mingyu began to laugh when he saw what his second Lieutenant was wearing. “What?” the sharp eyed vampire brushed his hands down the front of the tiger print sweater he’d found in a charity bin the night before. “It’s my spirit guide and I’m proud of it. You’re just jealous.” 

“Soonyoung, I can assure you, I’m definitely not jealous of your animal guide.” Junhui twisted the snake bracelet, his only family relic, around his wrist. “I’m quite happy with mine. What better animal for a vampire than a snake?” They began to laugh and then stopped when they watched Mingyu fuss with his fox fur coat. “I don’t care,” he said as he understood their sudden reticence. “Nothing wrong with a fox for a Prince. You can keep your tiger and your snake.”

They headed out into the black of night to hunt. They were gentle and careful, never taking too much, definitely never killing them. They were always conservative and only took what they needed to move on to the next place. Sometimes Mingyu dreamed of the places they would go, sometimes they moved on out of necessity, but it was always the same. He was their Prince and they went where he wanted. They always trusted his intuition.

He wrapped the fox fur tighter around himself and wondered when his guide would come to him. He’d been waiting for six hundred and twenty two years and he was ready. His memory of the past, so long ago, was fuzzy but he knew he would restore his kingdom one day. He just had to wait until the right time. His fox would come to him and lead him in the right direction; wherever that was. It wasn’t going to be tonight. He could feel the lack of energy in the crisp clear air. The full moon wasn’t essential but it did sharpen his senses and the barely waxing moon overhead was making it hard to scent any prey.

He stood still and breathed in deep and sensed a warm body east. His eyes indicated the silent plan to his army who flanked him. They moved imperceptibly through the night and found the lone jogger on a path and he was immobilised in seconds.

“You drink first my Prince,” Soonyoung’s eyes glittered with the excitement of food and an uncharacteristic deference as Mingyu took the first mouthful. Junhui went second and swallowed thickly before leaning in for another mouthful. “No,” Mingyu growled a little and pulled him back so Soonyoung could take his share as well. “Don’t forget about the babies,” he said and they each took a second mouthful and held it as they ran home through the night.

“Prince Mingyu?” the baby vampire blinked lazily, dazed, as the tallest of the group shook him by the shoulder. When he saw his prince leaning over him the baby vampire opened his mouth willingly and accepted the warm mouthful straight from his prince’s lips. “Thank you,” he gasped as he swallowed the thick life giving liquid and Mingyu smiled down at his second youngest. “How do you feel today Hansol?” he asked and the baby vampire stretched his limbs and lay back down on the bare mattress pushed against the wall. “Stronger, a little, and I almost got a vision of my spirit animal.” “That’s great!” Mingyu beamed at him and the baby smiled back.

Mingyu looked around the room and saw Seungkwan in Soonyoung’s lap slowly taking his share and Junhui and Chan in the corner giggling. Chan was always the fastest eater. He was the youngest but growing in power every day and with every mouthful of blood Seungkwan became more beautiful with a song that could lure any soul to its death. As soon as they were grown they would all be formidable additions to the Vagrant Prince’s kingdom.

The life of a baby vampire was hard. Pureblood vampires, born not turned, were abandoned at birth and wandered alone until an established family took them in or they died. With the vampires on the edge of extinction the odds of them being adopted were almost none. 

Mingyu had been lucky enough to find Seungkwan and Chan hidden from the daylight in a cave deep inside a forest when they were still very new. Hansol had been rescued from the edge of death burning up on a shoreline one damp and cold dawn. He was recovering from the trauma, patiently and slowly, but he would live. Mingyu looked around and admired his family which had now doubled from three to six and longed for the day when he would have his kingdom restored. When the crown he coveted was returned to him and he could give his subjects safety and security.

“Where are we going next?” Seungkwan asked. He was adventurous and energetic and was a good match for Mingyu. He was happy mentoring the baby vampire who’s enthusiasm for wandering matched his own. “I don’t know,” their prince admitted. “I need the fox to come to me and lead me in the right path.”

He didn’t know yet what that path was. With the entire kingdom wiped out by events prior to his memory and his scant subjects scattered over a huge territory Mingyu didn’t know where to start. He longed for the day when the fox would guide him onto the right path, the path to restoration, the path to the missing pieces of his life. 

He suddenly felt very tired as the questions that had plagued him for hundreds of years remained unanswered and he pulled his fox fur tight around his shoulders. Junhui sensed the need in his prince and moved closer to him, clinging on to him for the little warmth they could share, the gift of touch all he could give him.

“Let’s just sleep,” Junhui said and dragged Mingyu to a dark corner where a small stained mattress was pushed against the wall. They curled up together as Soonyoung took the babies deeper into the warehouse and, just as the sun was rising, they all fell asleep.

”Wake up..” Mingyu squinted and then blinked to focus on Soonyoung leaning over him, shaking him excitedly. “Wake up. The tiger says go East!” 

Mingyu groaned. Soonyoung’s close connection with his animal guide frustrated Mingyu endlessly. He wished he was more in tune with his powers but he always felt like something in him was blocking it, like there was a switch to be flicked or a conduit to be connected. “East?” he asked and Soonyoung nodded. “Are you sure? I don’t want the babies moved around too much.” Mingyu was fiercely protective of their brood of baby vampires and travelling was hard on them and dangerous as well.

“Mingyu how long have we been together?” Soonyoung crouched down close to Mingyu’s face and the other smiled showing his pointed canines. “Forever Soonyoung,” he whispered, “We’ve always been together.” 

That wasn’t entirely true. Soonyoung and Junhui were born at the same time far north from where Mingyu was born. Their parents had abandoned them together which had ensured their survival and they flourished during their youth. A young Soonyoung’s first visit from his guide had led to the two youth finding their prince near death and chained to a tree deep inside a forest. 

Scenting the powerful royal bloodline within him they’d fallen to their knees immediately, but their desperation to save him soon bred a warm familiarity. They’d hunted for him every night for seventeen days before he was able to feed himself. They’d been together ever since and this was hundreds of years ago. Mingyu had no memories prior to that moment when his world began with the rescue by his Lieutenants.

He’d be dead without them. He’d relied on them to nurse him back from the edge of death and he’d relied on them ever since. Without the older vampires Mingyu would be a faded pile of ashen dust. He was still relying on them now, especially Soonyoung’s connection to his magic and Junhui’s connection to the soul. He needed them more than ever. Despite his jealousy he listened to them and took their advice to heart.

They packed their meagre possessions and began to move through the night. It was cold,cold enough to make the vampire prince shiver, and the moon was waxing but not nearly at its peak. “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Mingyu tried not to let the uncertainty sound through his voice and Soonyoung reached out to pat his shoulder. “Trust me my Prince. The tiger came to me and told me to go East. We’ll find a cave to sleep in and then continue on tomorrow night. There’s something out there to help us.”

The luck of the moon was shining on them. They found a sleeping tent of campers, enough for each vampire to take a full feed and also feed their foster baby, and not far beyond that a cave as Soonyoung described. They settled in at the back, coats and jackets becoming pillows and blankets, and Mingyu wrapped his fox fur tight around him as he lulled himself into a fitful sleep.

When the moon rose and the sun dipped the little band of vagrants rose again. The babies seemed a little stronger tonight, the big feed the night before had done them all some good, and they set off at a brisk pace with Soonyoung leading the way. 

They stalked through the forest at an easy human pace. While the elder vampires were inhumanly fast the babies weren’t yet and they needed to conserve their strength to heal and grow. Mingyu’s mind wandered as they walked and he trusted his lieutenants to keep focus. He felt like something was blossoming into existence inside him, something faint and intangible for the moment, something he hoped would roar to life when the moon was full again. His instinct told him Soonyoung was right and east was the way to go to find whatever he was looking for. It was almost impossible to search for something when you don’t know what it it.

“It’s near…” Soonyoung’s voice permeated the darkness making Mingyu look over. “I’m going to find it.” “I’ll go with him,” Mingyu said as he got up and brushed the dirt form his clothing. “Stay here and guard the babies.” Junhui nodded his agreement as the two vampires slipped out of the cave into the darkness of the silent forest.

“It’s going to be fine you know,” Soonyoung said when it was just the two of them. “You’re doing an excellent job of keeping us safe. We’ll find what we’re searching for soon.” Mingyu wanted to believe him. “I’ve been dragging you all over the world searching for something and I don’t even know what it its,” Mingyu groaned a little as he let his childlike side show. He would only act like this in front of Soonyoung. Never in front of anyone else. Even though he didn’t have a kingdom he was still their Prince and had to act like one.

He just wished they could release this block on their magic. It was affecting him the most. If he could just gather up all his remaining vampire subjects maybe their magic would find strength and renewal in numbers.

“Shhh….” Soonyoung stopped him from walking further. “I sense something.” Mingyu inhaled and shivered immediately. “Vampire,” he said and Soonyoung nodded. “Over there..” 

He grabbed Mingyu by the arm and led him towards a clearing where an old beat-up van sat alone. “We should approach with caution,” Soonyoung was careful but Mingyu was buoyed by the thought of another to join their family. 

“Hey!” he called out loudly as his legs made long strides towards the van. “Hey! Anyone home?” 

The sliding door opened and a vampire climbed out and when he saw the two walking towards him he dropped to his knees immediately. Mingyu was elated as he rushed forward. Another vampire, adult and healthy and strong, this would tip the balance in their favour. 

“I’m turned not born,” the vampire said as they drew near. “Help me please. I can’t remember my maker and I don’t know where he is.” Mingyu reached out and pulled him up by the arm. “Something happened to us,” he said as the new vampire looked up at him with golden glowing eyes. “Something happened and we can’t remember.” Mingyu smiled down at him and the other collapsed again. “You’re our Prince. I can smell it in you,” the turned vampire stared in awe at his ruler and Mingyu’s smile was warm at the young vampires reverence. “Yes, I am, and you’re safe now. Come and meet the others.”

“Soonyoung is my name, and my guide is the tiger, nice to meet you!” Soonyoung’s bright grin was quickly mirrored by the other vampire’s glowing smile. “I’m Seokmin and my guide is the lion!” 

The two embraced and held it for a long time and Mingyu wondered if there was some connection long forgotten. “Where did you get the van?” Seokmin smiled a gleaming white smile that reminded Mingyu of the sun. “I accidentally took too much from a camper so I had to get rid of the other one too. It was a huge mistake. I took the van and, so far, haven’t had any problems.” Mingyu smiled at him and hugged him too. A new soldier for his little army of brothers was exactly what they needed. He could tell this one was strong in body and spirit. “Come on,” he said brightly, “come and meet the others.”

“A new brother!” Seungkwan stumbled over his own feet as he ran towards the front of the cave. “Cute,” Seokmin said as he embraced the baby vampire and the others flocked around them. “I have a van, we can drive,” Seokmin said as he looked around at the strange and ragged band of brothers. “Do you know where you are going?” He looked to Mingyu for guidance and was met with a dour expression. “No,” Mingyu said, “I’m not sure. I need the fox to show me the way but he won’t appear.” 

“Maybe you just need some alone time, time to think,” Seokmin said with one of the bright smiles that were fast becoming his trademark and Mingyu nodded. He wished the others optimism would rub off on him somehow. “We’ll stay here another night. Seokmin, bring your van here, we can hide it and start moving on tomorrow night. Hopefully the fuller moon will help us.” “I’ll go with him,” Soonyoung was beside the new member quicker than you could blink and they headed out into the darkness.

“He’s wonderful,” Junhui said in awe. “We have Soonyoung to thank for him. He’s very connected to the tiger and it was the tiger who showed us the way.” “The fox will come,” Junhui reached out and played with a strand of Mingyu’s dark hair, “you just have to let him.”

Mingyu wanted to cry.

The next night the older vampires went to find food and Mingyu decided to stay at the cave and guard the babies. He was feeling especially moody and he wanted to grasp at the feeling that it wasn’t him. That the real Prince inside was joyful and alive and truly vital. He just wished he could unlock his spiritual nature and with that the key to who he truly was.

“I just need the moon for a while,” he called out to the babies huddled in the back of the cave. They needed to feed and it was making them feel cold. He didn’t want to leave them but he had to get out for a while and his feet drove him to the entrance and down a little mossy hill. He didn’t need to go far.

Mingyu looked up at the sky, drinking in the moon’s light and energy, and closed his eyes. His face felt warm with the moonlight beaming down on him and when he opened them he felt a little dizzy. He turned towards a tree to steady himself and his hand brushed a plant with long dark purple flower clusters. 

‘ _Amaranthus_ …’ the wind whispered to him and he suddenly felt tired. 

The Vagrant Prince sank to the ground amongst the pale green leaves and let the whisper of the wind through their leaves sooth him. He couldn’t sleep, he knew that, and he was close enough to sense any danger near the cave where his babies were hiding. But he closed his eyes anyway and breathed in the life force surrounding him as he relaxed back into the bushes. The long flowers tickled his skin and the name ‘Prince’s Feather’ came to mind. Were they trying to tell him something?

His eyes opened with a start and he saw the fox waiting for him. Finally. His heart began to beat like wildfire in his chest as the wind blew up and the Amaranthus swirled around him. The fox moved closer and he could hear it, its breathing making the Amaranthus billow and whirl around him like a cloud of plum and violet. The fox was grey, not red like he expected, it was beautifully sharp eyed and bowed down to him as he reached a hand out.

_Northeast, towards the ocean, travel northeast through the forest. Avoid the cities where many people gather._

_When you reach a thick oak forest you will find a building heavily guarded. Wait for an opportunity to slip into the citadel on the cliff overlooking the sea. You will find your crown there, my Prince, surrounded by Amaranthus and feathers and shades of the ocean._

_Find your crown. Hold on to it. Clutch it close, covet it, treasure it._

_Do whatever it takes._

Mingyu didn’t realise he’d fallen asleep until he shook his head and cleared it. Had he fallen asleep though? Or just wandered into a magical haze of deep purple petals and soft grey fur. His chest hurt and his head was still a little foggy but the memory of his meeting was burned into his consciousness.

He knew where to go at last.

Soonyoung’s eyes were shining when the group returned. “Our new star hunter!” He proudly clapped Seokmin on the back and pushed him forward to let the babies crowd around and get some blood. Junhui fed Hansol and Seokmin fed the other two with the life giving liquid he held in his mouth. “I have even better news,” Mingyu was practically glowing and when Soonyoung realised he leapt into his arms with a squeal. “It came to you! The fox, it came to you, I can tell!” Mingyu nodded and they all gathered around him to hear the story.

“We need to travel northeast towards the ocean. When we find a thick oak forest we have to make our way through it. Inside a citadel my crown waits for me but it will be heavily guarded. The fox said to wait for the right opening to slip inside.”

“Northeast,” Soonyoung mused, “the tiger led us East and we found Seokmin and now we keep going towards the ocean. Wonderful!” he clapped his hands and jumped up and Mingyu pulled him back down to sit beside him. “Not now,” he laughed as he felt lighter and happier than he ever had before. “We need to rest and wait for tomorrow night.” “Do you need to feed?” Junhui asked him and he shook his head. Mingyu wouldn’t need blood tonight. He felt stronger than ever.

The next night the moon was even fuller, her glow making its slow way towards the full wax, her pale luminescence blessing the faces of seven excited vampires. “Road trip!” Soonyoung yelled loudly, his voice echoing through the silent forest, as he herded the three baby vampires into the back row of the van.

“Blankets!” Chan cried out when he found some folded blankets underneath the seat and he immediately snuggled into a pile of them with Hansol and Seungkwan. Hansol grumbled a little about being too warm before falling asleep again in the middle. It made Mingyu feel proud. Hansol was growing so much stronger every day. Chan, the youngest, was still cold all the time but the other two were starting to strengthen. Travelling long distances safely was nothing but a dream until they found Seokmin and his van.

“Ready?” Soonyoung asked. Junhui had already climbed into the second row with delight written all over his handsome face. He was stunningly beautiful, the epitome of warm vampire beauty, and Mingyu nodded. “I’ll sit with Junhui. You keep Seokmin company up front.” No one else was game to try and drive the van and Seokmin had assured them all he was confident. Mingyu waited until Soonyoung was settled in the front seat before turning back towards the cave. He gathered an armful of the amaranth growing beside it, shades of rich royal purple filing his fingers, and shoved a pile of the flowers into the van.

“Thank you,” he said aloud to the night, to the darkness they crept in and the moon who blessed them, and most of all to his guide who finally came to him. To each and every step that led him to his little band of brothers and forward into his resurrection.

He was grateful to them all.

As the van pulled away onto a dirt track through the forest Mingyu began to weave the amaranth into a glorious crown of green and purple to save the place of his real one. He wondered what it looked like.

“We need fuel,” Seokmin said as they roared down the highway spewing a trail of white smoke. “How do you know?” Soonyoung asked and Seokmin pointed at the orange light in the dash. “This light tells me. We can probably go for another half hour or so….” 

“Wow…” Soonyoung was utterly and unashamedly fascinated. The other six were all born and abandoned as all baby vampires were. They’d never had a turned vampire with them before, one who knew remnants and shards of the life before, one who knew more than the taste of blood and the shining radiance of the moon. One who had felt the warmth of sunlight on his skin. 

“You’re so cool Seokminnie,” Soonyoung giggled and Mingyu laughed from the seat behind him. Soonyoung had always been a little lost and it was wonderful to see him make a real connection with another creature. He could feel the brotherhood strengthening within his group and it was exhilarating. All the years of struggle were about to peak and his endurance would be rewarded with the return of his crown and a balance to the world of vampires again. His magic was going to come back. He could just tell.

“So where do we get this fuel then?” Junhui asked as he leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window. “There!” Seokmin pointed to a light ahead illuminating a service station by the side of the road. “Humans? No way Seokmin. And we don’t have any human money.” “Don’t worry about it,” Seokmin waved off Mingyu’s concerns with a hand. “I’ve done this stuff before heaps of times.” 

He pulled the van over and got out to pump the petrol. Mingyu’s nerves were all on fire as he turned back and saw their three babies still asleep. “Stay here and guard them with your life,” Mingyu said to the other two as he fought his fears and got out of the van.

“It’s fine, just watch me…” Seokmin finished filing up and replaced the petrol cap. Mingyu’s dead heart was beating wildly as he followed Seokmin’s quiet confidence into the service station’s building. “Hi,” he waved politely to the man behind the counter. 

He wandered over and pretended to look at the drinks before eying a tall stand of stuffed toys. “Look!” he grabbed Mingyu’s arm and reached up to pull the tiger plushie down. “Soonyoung would love this.” 

Seokmin wandered casually along the aisle as Mingyu’s nerves tingled through every muscle in his body. “We need to run,” he hissed to Seokmin as he watched the cashier watching them but Seokmin was unfazed. “Can you eat anything from here?” Mingyu shook his head. None of the born vampires could even put human food in their mouths. Seokmin shrugged and picked up a cola flavoured Chupa Chup before striding boldly towards the man behind the counter.

“We were never here..” he said as he leaned over the counter and stared in the cashier’s eyes. “You were never here…” the man repeated, dazed, and Mingyu’s mouth gaped open. “Did you see anyone in here tonight?” Seokmin asked him again and the man shook his head. “I haven’t seen anyone.” “Awesome! Come on!” he grabbed Mingyu by the arm and pulled him towards the exit.

Mingyu’s body only relaxed as they drove away. “So how did you do that,” he finally piped up and Seokmin shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s because I’m turned not born but I can just kind of…” his voice tapered off as he struggled to articulate what just happened. “I can just feel their brains? And twist that a little?” he shrugged at the incredulity of his own explanation and smiled brighter than the sun when his eyes caught Soonyoung rubbing his cheek against the soft tiger toy.

Mingyu wondered if out of all of them he was the one least in tune with his magic. Soonyoung’s tiger came to him regularly and almost willingly. Hansol’s animal would appear to him soon as well; Mingyu could tell. Seokmin’s powers as a turned vampire were incredible and fascinating and Junhui’s beauty was completely otherworldly. And he, their Prince and leader, was constantly struggling just to get them on the right path.

“Don’t feel bad.” Junhui, ever the empath, reached out and held his hand. “You’ll get stronger the closer we get to your crown.” Mingyu blinked back dry tears of blood as he stared out the window. He wanted to curl up and hide but he instead tried to focus on the warm caress of Junhui’s hand on his as they sped down the highway towards his redemption. They stopped without feeding and found an abandoned farm house with a big garage to hide their van. The vampires piled into the bathroom, in the middle of the house, and hung all their heaviest coats up at the one small window to keep the daylight out.

Mingyu was the first one to wake the next night and he shook out his thick fox fur and wrapped it around his shoulders. He woke with a strange sense of excitement, a fluttering in his stomach, and shook the others gently. “I’m hungry,” Chan whined and Mingyu felt sad. He needed to provide for them a little better but had to balance that with their need to travel.

He had been walking this world so long with Soonyoung and Junhui beside him. He couldn’t even remember how many hundreds of years. The babies had been with them for such a short period but even that felt like an eternity. It was all coming to a peak now; he could feel it, his stomach churning and his skin tingling with an unknown sense of anticipation. So many years of searching for his crown and he could feel it right at his fingertips.

“What do you think this citadel will be like?” he asked Junhui as they wandered the forest towards a strange scent of salt. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a big castle, all turrets and towers, and we walk inside and find your crown sitting on a golden throne!” Junhui’s imagination was as winsome and beguiling as his face and Mingyu turned to him in delight. “And the castle has no windows! And we can gather as many babies as we can find!” 

“Sleep all day, cool and dark, run all night out here in the wild…” Junhui was drawn in to Mingyu’s excited energy and thoughts of what their life could be like here. “Grow our kingdom,” Mingyu said and Junhui grabbed his arm as he shook his head. “Your kingdom,” his eyes glowed amber then green then dark with emotion and Mingyu pulled him into a hug. “No,” he said, overwhelmed with gratitude, “our kingdom. Anything I have is because of you and Soonyoung. I just hope there is a way to repay you some day.” 

“Repay me with your love my Prince!” Junhui laughed and teased as he skipped ahead of him and Mingyu cringed. They were supposed to looking for food and there was no hope of that with Junhui making such a ruckus. 

“Shhhh….” Junhui suddenly hissed. He dropped to the dirt and moved behind a bush and Mingyu quickly followed suit. His nose tested the air, finding the scent of salt and sea and ozone, the rich aroma of thunderstorms and loamy earth and a hint of roses carried on the wind. It was strange and unsettling but also somehow right, like it was a thread of his past waiting to be unravelled, and he wanted desperately to pluck at the string.

His entire spine tingled as they burrowed further into the bush and watched. Two figures, cloaked and garbed from head to toe in shades of green and grey like the forest, padded past them on bare feet. They had silver bows on their backs and quivers on their hips and their movements screamed silently of stealth.

One was tall with particularly pointed ears and the other only half an inch shorter with glowing green eyes like a cat. Their hoods covered their hair but their faces were beautiful and otherworldly, like nothing Mingyu had ever seen, beguiling and enticing like no human could be.

“Wait,” Mingyu hissed almost silently as Junhui wanted to move towards them. His features were stunned into a strange kind of trance and his nose twitched in the air. It was taking all of his own self-control not to rush from the bushes and throw himself at their feet and he held tight to Junhui’s arm as a way of grounding them both.

“I hear something,” the taller said as he stopped still and drew the hood of his cloak back. “Friend or prey Minghao?” the other asked as his growing eyes flashed in the darkness and the moonlight revealed the elegantly pointed ears on each side of the taller’s head. 

His hair was a thick mop of fluffy brown and longer than a vampire would ever wear. The other’s was similar, golden brown and warm, silken rather than fluffy as he dropped his hood as well. “Neither,” the tall one said and clutched the hand of the other. “We need to keep moving Jisoo. The Prince would like a stag.”

They were gone before Mingyu could blink. His memory became instantly fuzzy, a distorted image of two stunningly lovely creatures, garbed in green and silver as they flitted away through the forest. He was both dumbfounded and amazed, he had no words for what he saw, but even more curious were the tears streaming down Junhui’s face. Mingyu reached out and wiped his hands through the thick bloody streaks running rivulets down his lieutenant’s perfect skin as the vampire curled up and cried in the darkness.

“What exactly was that?” Mingyu choked back a sob.

“Faeries,” Junhui replied as he wiped the blood from his own cheeks and shivered in the cold damp night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday M

The sunlight on his skin was warming, uncomfortably so, and he moved away from the window. Every morning he woke and squinted in the overly bright sun that streamed in from the East facing windows that lined the walls of his bedchamber. The polished white stone seemed to reflect every single beam of sunlight that entered, bouncing around the room, making every surface gleam and glisten and glow.

Wonwoo hated it.

It was too bright and intrusive. He tried to pull the curtains closed but the light voile fabric gave no shield or protection from the sunlight bouncing off the gentle ebb and flow of the ocean. He sighed and turned around to throw himself back into his bed.

“You can’t sleep all day,” a voice, curt and business like, pulled him from his daydreams. “I can,” he replied and buried his face deeper into the feather and down pillows on his bed.

“You can’t. Each day is another day closer to your birthday and you have responsibilities my Prince.” Wonwoo sat up reluctantly and faced the other faerie seated on the end of his bed. “Okay Jihoon, I’ll get up, but only if you call Minghao in here for breakfast.”

Jihoon sighed heavily and ran a hand through his cherry blossom pink hair. He knew how this was going to go. Wonwoo had a morning full of lessons scheduled with him, studies on spells and botany, astronomy and geography; then all afternoon with Jisoo he had cadence and deportment and etiquette, posture and poise and conversation. All of these were of greater importance now the Prince’s birthday was fast approaching. He was about to be revealed to the fae world and it had to be perfect.

“Good morning,” Jisoo called out as he breezed in gracefully. The man walked as if he was gliding on air and it always fascinated Wonwoo how he could be so effortlessly light. Jisoo seemed like he was born of blaze, created from heliotrope and the light of sun fire, his glowing eyes golden and green like a cat. It amused Wonwoo endlessly that his elegant and refined deportment teacher’s animal guide was the rat and he and Minghao reminded him every day of that inescapable fact.

“Get up, please; we have a long day of preparations.” Jisoo grabbed for the pillow and tried to snatch it out from under Wonwoo’s dark curly locks but the prince grabbed it tighter and sulked. “I told Jihoon now I’m telling you; no breakfast without Minghao.” “Minghao should still be sleeping,” Jisoo clicked his tongue as he pulled the curtains back as wide as they would go. “We were hunting until very early this morning and he brought you home a huge silver stag. The kitchen staff are butchering it right now.”

The image of the beautiful and proud creature brought to its knees, slaughtered and bled dry, its life congealing in the dusty sand of the slaughter yard excited Wonwoo more than he would ever admit to his advisors. He got up from his bed and looked out the window again before throwing the French doors open with a smile. 

“He doesn’t look too tired!” 

He ran from his room barefoot and clad in only his light nightwear as swathes of soft fabric trailed behind him. He could see his companion, eyes bright and hair a mess in the wind, seated in his favourite place in the whole palace. The place where he came from and never forgot that fact.

“Nice morning for a swim!” Minghao giggled soft and musical, like little bells on the wind, as he plucked a lily from the pond where he sat. “Come and see,” he said as Wonwoo walked closer and sat on the edge with his bare feet in the pond. When Minghao held the lily out and Wonwoo looked inside his eyes crinkled and his nose scrunched. A tiny frog, bright green with red eyes and a yellow belly, sat inside the petals. “He’s beautiful,” Wonwoo said and Minghao giggled again. “Thanks. I made him myself. Want to come in?”

Wonwoo shook his head and leaned down to put the lily and the tiny frog back into the pond. “Come on,” he reached out and pulled Minghao by the hand to his feet. His soft robes, silk and lace and gauze, were soaked in muddy pond water and trailed a wake of dirt and mess behind him as he followed Wonwoo from the courtyard back into the Prince’s chambers.

Their breakfast was, as usual, a lavish spread of honey and nectar and fruit. Wonwoo picked at it with disinterest. The blood and flesh of the stag had filled his mind with craving and a honey soaked strawberry wasn’t going to satisfy it. He watched Minghao fill his cheeks with berries as the juice and nectar dripped down the front of his robes. He looked like one of the abstract art pieces Jihoon was always trying to explain to him. It made him happy. Not much made the prince happy; Minghao was one of the only sources of joy in his life. Minghao was different and Wonwoo was too. He just didn’t know how different yet.

Wonwoo was born of a fallen star, of salt and smoke in the air, of the scent left behind when a lightning bolt broke free of the clouds and struck the damp sand on the beach. Well, that’s what he was told - his guardians always a little hazy on the details. 

He didn’t know his parents, his real family, all he had in this world was his crown and his guardians, his teachers and his devoted companion. He had no memories of his life as a child or where he came from. His life was crystallised into being when he turned sixteen, surrounded by his foster parents, his home and his life already in motion.

The Clandestine Prince was what they called him; his existence kept a secret from the fae world. Hidden through necessity he was born under the shower of a million meteors and prophesised to bring balance to the magic of the faeries. His coming of age at twenty one, pure and untouched as freshly fallen snow, was going to bring in a new age of strength and power and allow the faerie world to rise up and claim dominance over all factions of magic. Elves and dwarves and shapeshifters, banshees and beasts and demons, all would bow down to this new and unfathomably powerful prince.

The prophecy was well known amongst the fae and they all waited for the day their Prince would appear and walk with them towards a new world and a new life. But he had to be protected at all costs and so he had spent the last five years holed up in this luxurious prison, his citadel his gaol, never knowing what was beyond the walls. 

His manse was his to explore and enjoy but the walls had closed in on him beyond comparison. He couldn’t stand it, the wards and talismans placed around it, the suffocating size of his whole world. He could care less about his responsibility towards his whole race. All he cared about was breaking free from the oppression of his daily life.

The prophecy and guidance for keeping him safe were said to be written in scrolls as ancient as the fae. He’d never actually been able to see them thought. They were hidden and guarded and their location unknown to all who cared for him. No one had any memory of their time before Wonwoo was safety ensconced in his castle. Not his guardians, not his teachers, no one. It was as if a block was put on all their memories and it must be for their own good. That was the only feasible explanation.

Wonwoo’s chief guardian, the Champion of Roses, was Jeonghan. Stunning and graceful, his looks were deceptive, his true nature cutting and shrewd and loyal to a fault. He had been caring for Wonwoo as long as he could remember. His twenty first birthday would number the years at five. 

His guardian was matched with Seungcheol, the Lavender Sentinel, caring and warm and empathic, and between them they had raised Wonwoo through his teenage years. Minghao had been a gift when he’d sulked for a companion his own age and Jeonghan had pulled him from the pond with his own bare hands. The little brown spotted frog had transformed into the lanky faerie with a wave of his guardian’s hand and Minghao and Wonwoo were inseparable ever since.

They were a strange little family. Jeonghan and Seungcheol claimed foggy memories of Wonwoo’s parents, nothing concrete but a loyalty and duty to help him live; a Prince in name only until he came of age. When he turned twenty-one he would be the ruler in his own right and a huge party would be held so all the fae could come and lay themselves at his feet and pledge their fealty. 

He would be required to take a suitable partner and sit beside them on his throne, the rose and lavender beside him as always, and he would rule over all he could see. Only then would their magic be as powerful as it could be. The fae would be unstoppable.

It was overwhelming to the young faerie who was consumed with darkness, thoughts of unsavoury cravings always in the back of his mind, his purity and innocence in body but not in spirit. Only Minghao knew of his doubts. His fragilities, his misgivings, his absolute conviction that he wasn’t the one. The hidden scrolls that foretold of his awakening, his revelation and rebirth, were wrong. 

They had to be.

Wonwoo knew the Prince of Faeries should be light and loving and warm. He knew he should wander the forest and make the flowers bloom at his fingertips. His hands and heart sh loud make the rivers run and the sky sing with the song of a thousand birds. He felt none of it inside. 

Inside he wanted darkness and dirt, he wanted to taste the rich rare meat of both deer and rabbit, he wanted to strip his robes and run straight into the cold deep ocean and never even look back. The darkness was inside him and he could feel it writhing, trying to escape, wanting desperately to break free and run wild.

“Wonwoo….. Wonwoo?” Minghao waved a hand in front of his face and Wonwoo’s dark thoughts faded a little. Reality struck him in the form of his best friend’s smiling face and he smiled back. He forced himself to. “Sorry. What were you saying?” he picked at a stalk of celery and made a face as he tried to swallow the plant down. “If we go now we can get away from them for a while before they start making you do your lessons.” Minghao’s face was alive with mischief and the Prince softened. He needed Minghao to keep the darkness form taking over but he couldn’t keep it completely at bay.

“Let’s go out behind the kitchen and watch them butcher the stag!” he said with too much glee in his voice and Minghao nodded. He wasn’t surprised. His Prince’s predilection for the macabre and his thirst for the unusual was well known even though it was only spoken about in hushed tones. His interest in his studies was limited to biology and astronomy, the stars overhead and the functions of a living body, and anything else was a waste. 

Wonwoo had no time for a song or story, poetry or art; he was inattentive to the distress of his teachers. It didn’t matter to him. He was nothing but a puppet, a vessel for a prophecy; his life was never to be his own.

Wonwoo held tight to Minghao’s hand as they wandered the cobbled paths through the gardens and courtyards. The whole citadel was on two levels and the ground level was a sprawling maze of interconnected rooms and gardens. Minghao smiled softly as Wonwoo gathered things while he walked. A feather here, a leaf there, the living were drawn to him like moths at a flame. 

The tiny hummingbird perched in his hair warbled an odd tune and Minghao grabbed his arm to stop him. He looked around and checked they were alone before pulling Wonwoo down to sit on a bench. “I felt something last night, something in the forest,” he whispered cryptically. “Something dark and hungry.” 

Wonwoo’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open a little. He held a hand out and the hummingbird flitted with a buzz from his hair to his finger and then over to a flower to drink. Feathers floated behind it, not from its tail but from somewhere magical, and Wonwoo leaned in to hear more. 

“Whatever it was, it was calling me….” Minghao said and Wonwoo shivered. “Why didn’t you see what it was?” “I had the rat with me,” Minghao said, “Remember? It was Jisoo’s idea to try and please you with the stag. You really think he’s going to let me go off and investigate dark magic and not report it back the Guardians?” Minghao shook his thick mop of warm brown hair. “They’ve never let you leave this palace. It will be worse if they hear about this. They’ll confine you to your room.”

Minghao was right. The prophecy was so specific that he had been completely hidden away. In a week it would be his twenty first birthday and his existence was to be announced to the world. Every fae would come and pledge fealty and he would be expected to play the perfect pure Prince. White robes and sparkling gems and an aura of cleanliness and calm. The opposite to whom he felt he was inside.

“I need to know what it was…” Wonwoo said as they resumed their journey through the citadel.

They found the butcher in the shadow of the Tower Aquila and the stag hanging from a tall rack. “My prince,” the butcher bowed deeply, “I’ll be done soon. Don’t trouble yourself with this frightening view. I’ll have some small steaks ready to be cooked for your lunch.” 

“Leave me,” Wonwoo commanded with an authoritative wave of long fingers. The butcher wanted to object but he also knew his place and turned immediately to walk away and into the kitchen just west.

“Someone will find out,” Minghao said softly, his eyes filled with concern, but he was used to Wonwoo and knew he wouldn’t stop until his thirst was satisfied. He watched his prince, mesmerised, totally smitten with the sight before him as he walked towards the stag.

“Thank you my fellow prince,” he said almost inaudibly as he knelt down in the sand. Blood stained his pale blue robe where it pooled under his knees, the patterns a macabre artwork of red and brown and sand, the trails left in the dirt swirls and churns like waves on water. 

But there was no water. Only blood and sand and the heat of the sun beating down on them as Wonwoo closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the neck of the stag. The gash in its throat the butcher had made was wide and clean and the blood was running freely from it.

Wonwoo was in heaven. The vague and indescribably craving for darkness was satisfied when the metallic scent of the blood filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply and felt a stirring inside him that he’d never felt before. No matter how many times he’d done this his cravings never felt satisfied but today, knees bloody and sore, heat pooled below his belly and filled him with a desire he’d never before experienced. 

He craved the blood of innocents. He wanted to dance with it all over his bare body as the moon shone her pale face down towards him. He wanted to shed his skin and run free in the forest and throw himself into the cold black ocean. He wondered what it would taste like and just as his craving reached its peak, his hand moved of its own accord. He couldn’t help it, he didn’t want to help it, he wanted to give himself over completely to his craving and he slipped his hand inside the stag’s wet bleeding wound.

“It’s so warm,” he muttered as his fingers felt the life and the nutrients almost pulsating within the congealed blood. He pulled his hand free and was just about to place his fingers in his mouth when Minghao intervened and pulled his arm back.

“Prince Wonwoo, what are you doing? Please don’t…” he implored and held tight to the Prince’s arm. His companion’s voice seemed to pull him back from the edge and he sat heavily in the bloody sand and stared at his fingers. “I just wanted to know what it tastes like…” he said sadly as his friend began to wipe his hand clean with his own robes. “No, my prince please don’t, nothing good can come from this.” Minghao worked quickly and cleaned the prince but then he realised they were now both a bloody mess.

“Quick…” he grabbed Wonwoo’s hand and pulled him from the dirt and dragged him at a run back through the maze of courtyards to the prince’s chambers. They ran through the citadel, light on their feet as if they had wings, breezing past any servants with a trail of feathers in their wake. The feathers always blew when Wonwoo ran, a sign and symbol of the hummingbird, the winged creature his official animal guide. No one knew why the prince’s animal guide was the hummingbird until they saw the silence and grace with which he moved. Then they knew how much it suited him.

They made it through the palace without running into anyone significant to Minghao’s relief. Looking after Wonwoo was becoming a full time job. Everyone always thought it was him creating chaos and causing mischief, and, in the past, they were right.

Nevertheless, the closer they got to Wonwoo’s birthday the wilder the prince became and now Minghao had the scent of the dark magic in the forest he couldn’t help but feel it everywhere. It was just outside the walls and permeating everything in the air and when he grasped his friend’s hand he couldn’t tell if it was coming from outside the citadel or within the Prince. It seemed to be one and the same. 

Strange, Minghao thought, that he’d always sensed the difference in his friend and now he could discern it from the others. Wonwoo was no ordinary faerie. The others were either indifferent or purposely deceptive about the true nature of his Clandestine Prince. They’d hidden him for a reason and Minghao wanted to find out what that reason was.

“Get in,” Minghao’s unusual strength served him well as he hurled his prince into the muddy frog pond. He followed suit and when they were both seated waist deep in mud and smelly water they began to laugh. “What would I do without you?” Wonwoo smiled widely, his nose scrunching and his eyes disappearing into little crescents, and Minghao smiled back. “You’d be lonely, my beautiful Prince, and I’d still be a tiny frog.”

You could tell what he was if you looked close enough. The brown of his hair was the colour of mud but sparkled with the glint of sunlight on water. It had tiny black streaks in it that matched the little frogs, which seemed to come out of nowhere when Minghao joined them in the pond. His arms and legs were a little too long and his hands and feet were a little too big. 

However, he was the greatest gift Wonwoo had ever received and he was grateful every day for the companionship of the frog. “You’re right,” he said as he curled his body into Minghao’s and the other held him tight. It made Minghao feel sad, that Wonwoo didn’t really have anyone else, his teachers and guardians all a little detached. They all loved him, watched over him and raised him and guarded him, taught him well and nurtured his mind. But Minghao was the one who showered him with warm affection and stopped him from being too cold when the darkness rolled in and the cravings overwhelmed him.

Sometimes when he sneaked into his bed at night Minghao held the prince while he cried. He rarely remember why the next day. He always just said his dreams were painful and he couldn’t exactly remember why. Sometimes he dreamed of his animal, the hummingbird, trapped in the jaws of a fox. Sometimes it was visions of the amaranth, his flower, spilling dead and dry over the walls of his garden. Sometimes his dreams were just of blood, thick and red and smelling strongly of copper, running through all the pools and fountains in the palace. Sometimes he just couldn’t remember at all.

Minghao watched the Prince sit silently in the mud, his hand outstretched to trace the long hanging strings of red flowers reminding him of the dripping blood leaking from the stag’s throat. The amaranth grew all over the palace, the long purple flowers delighting every fae that came across it, the whole citadel decorated in the dark purple blooms of the Amaranthus hypochondiacus – the Prince’s Feather. 

The flowers that surrounded the pond in his private garden were different now though. Their nature had changed. He knew their magenta red hue differed from the dark plum shades that adorned the rest of the palace walls but he couldn’t remember when they had changed colour; he was sure they’d been purple just yesterday. 

“This flower,” he said to Minghao who was enamoured with a newt he’d found under a rock, “what is this?” “My Prince?” Minghao was confused. The prince was disinterested but not unintelligent and botany was one of his strongest subjects. “You know this is an Amaranth.” “I know that,” Wonwoo took a stick and threw it at his friend. “I know the amaranth grows all over my palace. The rest are purple and this one is now red. I wonder why?”

“Prince Wonwoo?” a curt voice drew his attention to the door and Wonwoo groaned to see Jihoon standing with his hands on his hips. “It’s time for studies.” Wonwoo stood up and Minghao did too. “I’m out of here,” he said as he sprung from the pond and took off over the wall into the garden next door like he was weightless. Wonwoo shook his head in disappointment. What he wouldn’t give to be a frog, void of duties and responsibilities, able to escape lessons so easily.

When he stood he was relieved to see his knees were brown with mud. The bloody stains from the stag were disguised with the moss and mud of the pond and he climbed out of the water and walked over to Jihoon. “You’re not going inside like that,” the fae teacher said with his nose curled in disgust. 

“Oh really?” Wonwoo smiled at this new development and began to shed his outer robe. “My teacher instructs me, the pure prince, to disrobe out here in the sun! Where anyone could see! My virtue and purity is at risk but if you insist…” his inner robe began to slip from his shoulder revealing one pale and perfectly sculpted collarbone before the pink haired teacher shrieked in fear. “Stop,” he hissed and grabbed the prince by his arm and dragged him towards the door. “Get inside and get changed. Then we can have lunch and begin your daily lessons.”

Wonwoo’s nose itched and his mouth watered when the steak was delivered to his quarters. He lifted the silver lid from the tray, white with pale blue painted hummingbirds circling the edge, and inhaled the scent of the rich deer meat. The steak was rare, just as he’d requested, swimming in a puddle of bloody meat juice. A few vegetables sat to the side and the Prince disregarded them for the meat as he grabbed it with both hands and began to chew. 

Blood ran down his chin and dripped onto his clean white robes as he enjoyed the taste and a little colour returned to his cheeks. Always pale, always cold, the prince only felt well when he either sat in the sun or just after he’d eaten a tray of bloody meat. The other fae couldn’t fathom why their prince had such a taste for flesh. They only ate fruit and berries, cakes and honey, rarely did they eat any animal products at all. The occasional bowl of cream added to a sweet meal, or pot of carefully collected honey, never did any other faerie eat a slab of meat like their prince enjoyed.

“What?” he asked as he realised Jihoon was staring at him. “It’s just, I don’t know, My Prince I don’t understand how you can do that.” Jihoon shook his head and opened the botany book as Wonwoo finished the steak and shoved the last strip of fat into his mouth.

“I just like it,” he said with his mouth full before swallowing heavily. He sipped at the water in front of him, wiped his moth clean, and looked down at the front of his robe spattered with flecks of brown blood and meat. “I’m not changing again,” he said steadfastly and Jihoon just shrugged. “Let’s get on with it.” He said, “We’re running out of time.”

He listened to Jihoon drone on and on before becoming distracted and looking outside. The red flowers looked even brighter in the afternoon sun and he was overcome with curiosity again. “Jihoon,” he interrupted the lecture and the faerie with the pink hair stopped his reading. “Yes? Do you have a question about the material?”

Wonwoo shook his head. “The amaranth is important. It’s my flower.” “That’s not a question. The Amaranthus hypochondiacus – the Prince’s Feather – grows all over your palace as a symbol of your life everlasting. The immortality of the fae kingdom, its prince, and all your subjects. It’s named the Prince’s Feather for the feathers you trail behind you and the feathers of your animal; the hummingbird.” 

Wonwoo scowled. “I know all this. But look-“ he grabbed Jihoon’s hand and took him to the window where they could see the long red stems of the red amaranth bobbing in a soft sea breeze. “The amaranth surrounding my garden are all red now. I’m sure they weren’t yesterday but they seem different.” Jihoon rubbed his eyes before stepping outside and Wonwoo followed the teacher as he examined the flowers covering the high stone wall running the length of the prince’s private courtyard and garden. 

“This isn’t the Prince’s Feather,” Jihoon said with a tremor in his voice. He reached out to finger a soft strand of deep crimson flowers and shook his head. “I can’t explain this your Highness. I’ll have to consult the others and the Guardians. It can only be magic and this isn’t good…..”

Wonwoo grabbed his arm and the teacher looked up at the prince almost a whole head taller than him. “What is it?” Wonwoo asked and Jihoon looked back down at the flower before turning to go inside. Wonwoo followed him and watched him leaf through a huge book before finding the right page.

“Here,” he said as he pointed at a picture. “Amaranthus caudatus. Common name is Love-Lies-Bleeding.”

Wonwoo felt warm all over.

“It’s a sign,” he said quietly as Jihoon closed the book with a slam. Of what, Wonwoo didn’t know, but it couldn’t be a coincidence. Minghao said there was dark magic in the air. Now his garden was surrounded by Love-Lies-Bleeding and he felt innately wilder than ever.

“We’ll continue later,” Jihoon said curtly as he walked through the door. “I need to speak to Jeonghan now.”

And he was gone.

Wonwoo wasn’t disappointed. He walked out into the sunshine and began to pluck sheafs of the blood red flowers and settled on the ground beside the muddy frog pond. As the sun beat down on his pale skin and feathers blew around him in the sea breeze the Prince wove himself a crown. He wove a beautiful flower crown of green and red, leaves and flowers, wind and fire and sun and blood. He wove a crown more beautiful than the one he was soon to wear for his people and he knew things were about to change forever.

“We have a big problem,” Jihoon said as he burst into the Guardian’s quarters. Seungcheol, the Lavender Sentinel, was reading a thick book on a pile of cushions. The Champion of Roses, clad in a pale pink robe, was oiling a blade as long as his body and much more threatening. 

“We know,” Seungcheol said as he flicked through the wordy tome, which seemed to be covered in dust, Jeonghan sliding the oilcloth along the blade making it shine. “There’s dark magic in the forest again. We thought they were all gone but Jisoo sensed something last night when he took Minghao out to get a stag.” 

“Do you think the frog faerie sensed it?” Jihoon asked and Jeonghan laughed. “No way. His magic isn’t strong enough. I made him I know what his limitations are.” He smiled at the glow his blade reflected when he turned it towards the light. It was solid silver, its hilt an intricate filigree of roses, the edge sharp enough to cut through flesh and bone.

“You won’t be needing that,” Seungcheol said to his lover as he put the book down and moved next to the other faerie. “Wonwoo is the key to our power and we just have to keep him safe. As long as they can’t get to him they can’t hurt him and they cannot ever be what they were.” Jeonghan shrugged and turned the blade over before sliding it in the hilt and packing the whetstone and oilcloth away. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

Jihoon walked from the room with a frown on his face. He trusted the guardians to be right but he had a sick feeling in his stomach. They all knew the key was Wonwoo. Keep him safe, don’t let them hurt him, keep him alive and everything was going to work out exactly how it was prophesised. But what if they were wrong? What if the prophecy was wrong? Maybe their instruction were wrong.

“We should cancel the ball,” he thought to himself but didn’t voice it aloud. No way would either of the Guardians ever agree to cancel Wonwoo’s debut and revelation. Too much had been building up to this moment.

It didn’t stop Jihoon from worrying though.


	4. Chapter 4

The darkness wrapped around him like a familiar old coat, cloaking him in soothing cold darkness, hiding his footfalls as he walked slowly along the path. The bracelet around his wrist seemed to tighten and clench of its own accord and he fidgeted with it subconsciously. His nose sniffed the air, desperate for any scent of creature, human or otherwise, as his Prince was struggling. His Prince needed to eat.

They all did.

They’d found a cave right on the beach. Seokmin was fine, snatching a rabbit here or there, snaring something to devour just to get at the blood. He would take the flesh as well as the others could not. He was, after all, still closer to human than they’d ever been. The babies were huddled in the back, cold and damp, clinging to each other. They conserved their energy and slept in a pile like puppies but were not nearly as cute or as warm. The hunger had forced them instantly into a kind of stasis, hibernation and conservation, their movements restricted to only what was necessary.

Soonyoung seemed to feed off the energy surrounding Seokmin. It was almost as if he could subsist on the glow of life the turned vampire brought to the group. He’d never seen anything like it before. It was as if Seokmin’s magic was keeping Soonyoung alive. The other two weren’t so fortunate. Humans didn’t come this deep into the forest usually. There were no campgrounds or tourist attractions to lure a regular stream of food. 

Nevertheless, Junhui was drawn deep into the rich verdant undergrowth in search of something large enough to satisfy his Prince. Junhui wanted a stag and he would take it alone.

It would be a poor substitute but he was hungry and so was his Prince. He’d insisted on going alone and Mingyu had acquiesced eventually. Two nights in the forest had been enough to make them realise this was not a friendly place for them. No humans, no food, no hope.

Junhui sensed something moving though the leaves above him and held still. Every muscle in his body was tense and taut as he waited and watched and listened. The scent that filled his nostrils was cold and clean, the scent of earth before rain and wind at sunset, the smell of sun and life and cold muddy pond water. He turned around just in time to see a lithe figure land in front of him where it had dropped from above to the ground below. A thick green cloak covered his body and head but there was no mistaking exactly what he was.

“Fae,” Junhui hissed through his teeth as it stood in the middle of the path. 

The faerie was almost as tall as him, features round and soft and stunning, body long and lean and ethereal. Junhui frowned in confusion as the faerie dropped his hood and he noticed the spots on his hair and the size of his hands and feet and his scowl changed into a small smile. “You’re not really a faerie,” he grinned as he reached out to run a hand across the faerie’s soft hair. “You’re just a little Wuyi frog.” “I was,’ the faerie smiled as he shook his hair back and his ears were revealed. He seemed especially proud of them and showed them off like they were a badge of honour; an indication of his status ascension in the order of the natural world.

They circled warily around each other on the dusty dirt path. Dark eyes flashed and met with hazel under the canopy of elm and oak. “So,” Minghao broke the silent embargo eventually, “what brings a pit viper to the forest of the fae?” “Our Prince is searching for something,” Junhui offered up. 

“Amaranthus.” 

Minghao’s jaw dropped a little before his poker face came back but it was too late. Junhui saw right through him. “Tell me what you know,” he grabbed the little frog by the cloak and pulled him close and the magic in the air crackled between them. Their faces grew warm, separated by an inch, and Junhui inhaled for the first time in a century. “Tell me why that means something.” 

“My Prince searches for something as well, he longs and he pines but for what he doesn’t know....” Minghao thought carefully before blinking up at Junhui. “He sits in his garden and cries for his unknown past while he weaves crown after crown made of amaranthus. It used to be the Prince’s Feather, growing wild and free all over his garden, but ever since you came into the forest his garden only grows Love-Lies-Bleeding.”

Junhui couldn’t believe his ears.

“Fae,” he said softly and the faerie crumbled under his gaze. “Pit viper,” he said as he drew even closer and the vampire shook his head making his dark hair swing. “Junhui,” he said softly as a single tear dripped from his eye streaking his cheek with thick crimson. He stood still as a statue and just as beautiful as Minghao scraped it off the skin with his thumb and licked the blood with delight. “You taste old and strong…” Minghao closed his eyes as he let the flavour of the blood roll around in his mouth. “You taste lonely.”

“I am,” Junhui confessed. “I miss the sun and I miss the warmth.” “I can give you all those things,” Minghao’s intensity soon turned into a giggle and he sprang away from the viper with glee. “Wait,” Junhui held out a hand to grab him but it was too late. The frog was off at breakneck speed, racing barefoot down the dusty forest path, his cloak trailing in the wind behind him like a flurry of autumn leaves.

If there was anything Junhui loved it was the thrill of the chase. His heart, silent and still for a thousand years, raced in his chest as he ran as fast as he could. The fae was fast but he was faster and his chest burned as he grabbed the back of the fae’s cloak. “Gotcha!” he squealed in delight as they tumbled into the dirt and Minghao rolled on top of him and pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhhhhh…” he whispered. “We are in the presence of royalty.”

He rolled off and behind a shrub and Junhui followed him. They moved with the stealth of those trained to hunt as the enormous stag strode regally into view. “My prince would love some of that,” Minghao said softly and Junhui nodded. “Mine too. We need it to live.” Minghao looked him up and down and finally shook his head. “If you let me have it I’ll give you something else. Something better than the stag.”

A shiver of excitement ran the length of Junhui’s spine as Minghao moved closer and whispered in his ear. “Have you ever tasted faerie blood?”

Junhui had not.

The snake in him wanted to twist and slither and curl and coil. He was overwhelmed with a sudden urge to wrap himself around the faerie and squeeze until the life bled from him, until the air was squashed from his chest, until he was crushed and breathless and utterly ruined.

Instead he sat transfixed as the little frog crawled towards him.

The fae, Minghao, moved swift and silent. Junhui inhaled again, instinct overriding a thousand years of suffocation, as the frog faerie settled in his lap. Minghao held his thumb out and Junhui took hold of his hand, stroking the long thin fingers with reverence, the flames of something long dead bursting to life inside him. When he traced the veins throbbing close to the surface it was as if a sun shower was raining down inside his resurrected heart.

He licked around Minghao’s thumb and the faerie moaned inhumanly at the sensation. He watched Minghao close his eyes and tip his head back and the sight of his thick and virile carotid pulsing with life made him hard. Lust was a human weakness he thought he was long rid of but it flared into force as he stared at the artery. He wanted to bite it and drown in the magical blood, feel it running down his chin as he gripped the fae’s hips, grind up into his body as its warmth surrounded him and sent him into ecstasy. He wanted to rip and tear and own and destroy as need and desire and want flooded his own stagnant veins.

“Calm down,” the frog faerie giggled in such and endearing way that it snapped Junhui back into the moment. “Just a taste,” Minghao warned him as he stroked the vampire’s cold pale cheek and pricked his thumb on a single protracted fang.

Junhui’s nostrils flared at the delicious aroma and when he sucked at Minghao’s thumb sensual pleasure rippled through him. It started in his mouth where the rich taste of mud and sunlight coated his tongue and spread down his spine to his groin where it pooled in a welcome heat he’d long thought gone forever. One swift suckle was all he was allowed before Minghao pulled his thumb away and flashed the vampire a flirtatiously crooked smile.

Junhui felt incredible. He felt like he could run a mile in a second, like he could breathe again, like he could walk in the sun and swim in the ocean and fly. He tested his new strength and lifted off from the ground and giggled musically when he found that he could fly. He’d never dreamed of being able to do this. Never in his thousand years of existence. He wanted to fly and feed and fuck for the first time in as long as he could remember.

He felt alive again, like he’d finally found something to live for, and just as soon as he’d found it he could see it slipping away. The urge to float, the ability, wouldn’t linger for long so he tried to fly a little higher and reach out for the verdant treetops.

“Come back here,” the fae reached out and grabbed him by the ankle. “you owe my Prince a stag.” Junhui’s eyelashes fluttered as his eyes glittered in the darkness. They flashed with life, with lust and danger, and he was off and running before Minghao could even move. The fae jumped up and raced after him and by the time he caught up to the vampire he could smell it in the air. 

The warm iron scent of blood hung heavy and he found him seated in a clearing. The stag was bleeding, its last throes of life leeching out into the dirt, as the vampire tore into its throat with his hands. The viper stood and lifted the beast as if it was weightless as blood rained out into the cold damp dirt.

“For you,” he said as he laid it at Minghao’s feet, “please let me have the heart.”

Minghao nodded. “Take the heart,” he said and watched as Junhui pulled the skin of its chest back as easily as if he was parting water. Minghao shuddered as he watched the vampire reach in and pull the huge muscle, still dripping with blood, and clutch it close to his chest. 

“Thank you,” Junhui said with a bow and when he stood he felt the fae draw closer. “It is a fair exchange little frog. For while you have gifted me the heart of the forest prince I think you are taking mine with you in exchange.”

“Flattery,” Minghao shook his head but he had to turn to hide the smile on his face. He turned back to find Junhui crowded in his space and he gasped a little. The pit viper was stunning, his skin like poured ceramic under milk, his dark hair glittering as if made of mica. The diamond lattice of scales, barely visible along his hairline, drew Minghao in a way it shouldn’t. “Vipers eat frogs...” Minghao mumbled as he stared at Junhui’s lips and Junhui smiled sweetly in return. “And yet, you aren’t afraid,” Junhui moved closer and nosed at the faerie’s ear before running his lips gently across the outer shell.

“I’m not,” Minghao said definitively as he enjoyed the sensation. It was true. He wasn’t. A day lived full in the body of a faerie was worth more than a lifetime as a frog in the mud. And if he died here, drained of his blood in the arms of this snake prince, then it would be a worthy way to go. He pressed his body closer against the vampire and felt one arm slither around his back to hold him close.

When their lips met it was an explosion, sunlight and stardust combined, sharp shards of life and death running through their connection. Magic sizzled, measurable, palpable in the air and when Junhui snaked his tongue into Minghao’s mouth he felt his whole body quiver with desire.

“We’re having a party,” he murmured when they broke apart and Junhui’s eyes glittered with amusement. “Are you asking me on a date little Wuyi?” he chuckled and the darkness barely hid Minghao’s blush but the frog fae nodded. 

“A party? Will there be others?” Junhui held out his free hand and took Minghao’s and the faerie smiled a little shyly. “A party at out palace. It’s our Prince’s coming of age and there is to be a huge celebration. Most of the fae will be there, many others as well, maybe even a human or two for you and your brothers to take when no one’s looking.”

Junhui sighed and nosed against the little frog’s cheek and inhaled again. The rich loamy scent of pond mud and oxygen was almost overwhelming in the promise of life it held. Junhui didn’t know how he was ever going to feed from a human again after tasting the fae in his arms. But there was destiny in the air and it was driving them together and who was he to tell the world how to work?

“How can we come?” he asked and Minghao shoved a hand inside his cloak. He rummaged around a little before pulling a pile of little river pebbles, smoothed by the flow of water, and showing them to the vampire in his open palm. 

“A shrouding spell, a glamour of concealment, something to hide your true nature for a period of time.” 

He grinned proudly and Junhui melted inside as he felt a slow drip of affection warm his dead frozen heart.

“Did you make these?” he asked and the little frog nodded with so much dignity, his spine straight with satisfaction, his eyes glistening with achievement. “Take them,” he said as he held them out. “Carry them in your pocket and the fae won’t know. Sometimes I still have to use them when I’ve been out of the pond for too long so I know they work.”

Junhui took the handful of rocks and stashed them safely away. “And take this,” Minghao searched inside his cloak frantically before finding what he wanted. He held out a beautiful flower crown, woven from damp dripping water lillies, the feathers of a white swan scattered amongst the blooms. “Is this also for concealment?” Junhui asked as he took the crown and Minghao laughed delightfully with light dancing in his eyes.

“It’s a party,” he smiled, “wont you want to look beautiful? Beauty deserves beauty.” Junhui laughed as well as he nodded his agreement. He did want to look beautiful if only to keep the little Wuyi frog by his side.

“I have one last gift,” Minghao shifted close again and wrapped his arms around Junhui’s neck. He bit down hard on his bottom lip and when blood began to fill his mouth he pressed it against Junhui’s. He let the pit viper take a big swallow before kissing him again, harder, more passionate than before. The vampire let his mouth fill with blood and, reluctantly, pulled away. He leaned his forehead against Minghao’s and gave him a last look of wonder before looking down the dark forest path and turning back towards Minghao’s voice.

“Come to the citadel in three nights. Follow the path here until you see the lights. As long as you have the charms you’ll be let in! And make sure you bring your Prince as I’m sure he’d love to meet mine!” 

Junhui nodded, clutched the bloody stag heart to his chest, and flew away.

Junhui landed in front of the cave with a resounding thump. Mingyu ran towards him, wide eyed and wild, his mouth gaping open in surprise. “Did you just fly here?” he asked as Junhui just dropped the deer heart, pushed past him, and ran into the cave.

He scrambled for something to use and found an empty paper cup. As soon as he had it in his hands he spat the mouthful of liquid he’d been carrying. He gagged a little and spat again and looked up to see the curious crowd which had gathered around him.

“What is that?” Mingyu asked as he picked up the cup. He held it up to the fire and the liquid seemed to gleam and roll around in the plastic like oil on water. The scent of it was rich in the room and Junhui smiled as he licked the blood from his lips.

“That, my brothers, is fae blood. It’s delicious.”

“Fae blood? Junhui no, you didn’t ...” “No I didn’t,” Junhui interrupted Mingyu with indignation. “You think I would have the boldness to kill a faerie?” He looked around at the little group hanging on every word before going back to the mouth of the cave to find the stag heart. He picked it up and brought it inside to hand over to Mingyu. “Here, my Prince, this is for you. Tonight I met a faerie and he gave me his blood willingly and helped me catch the stag.”

The look on their faces was priceless. 

“You took blood from a fae?” Soonyoung squealed and Mingyu began to laugh. “Explains how you flew here. Is it really that good?” “Better,” Junhui was almost swooning as he remembered the thick luxury of Minghao’s blood covered tongue in his mouth.

“It was indescribable. I breathed, I flew....” he grabbed Mingyu’s hand and placed it over his chest and when he felt it the Vampire Prince jumped back. “How?” he asked in shock and Junhui giggled loudly. “I don’t know, it just gave me so much life my heart started to beat again. And the fae, his name is Minghao, he’s so lovely....” 

Junhui’s mind began to wander as he pulled the crown from his pocket. He placed it on top of his lush sable hair and turned to face his brothers. “How do I look? The fae said I was beautiful and...” he’d almost forgotten the best part. “They’re having a party in three nights. I have concealment charms so we can go. He said there would even be humans there to take.”

“No way,” Mingyu began to pace. He didn’t like it. “It’s a trap.” “It’s not a trap.” The idea of taking his chance to see the little Wuyi frog again had Junhui trembling with fear. “I want to see him again. I want to go.” He grabbed a fistful of Mingyu’s shirt as his knees began to buckle with the overwhelming fear of grief. He wouldn’t lose his little frog before he’d even really had him.

“Wow....” Soonyoung wheezed through his teeth, “the great and beautiful Pit Viper brought undone by the sweet kiss of the fae...” He leaned over and gabbed the cup and took a sniff. He licked his lips and went to sip it but Mingyu snatched the cup from his hands. “Wait,” he said, putting the cup back on the old picnic table they’d pulled from the van. “We might need that. If we decide to go.” “Please can we go..” Junhui was imploring with all he had, his alabaster cheeks ruddy with the flush of his resurrected heart and streaked with rivulets of blood from his tears.

“It smells disgusting,” Seokmin said as he moved closer to the table, “but can I have a bite of that?” He reached out for the stag heart still lukewarm on the table. “My Prince first,” Junhui picked it up and handed it to Mingyu who sucked at the torn artery hanging from the side.

He sucked the blood and they all watched on as a little colour came back to Mingyu’s cheeks. “The babies next,” Mingyu said as he handed the huge stag heart to Chan. Soonyoung began to grumble and Junhui pulled him close. “You really want a taste?” he asked and when Soonyoung nodded he pulled him close and pressed their mouths together. Soonyoung parted his lips and let Junhui kiss him, slow and soft, his own tongue sliding out to lick around Junhui’s mouth and taste the faint remnants left behind by the fae blood. “Incredible...” he whispered when they broke apart and his fingers went to his lips. “It tastes like spring and autumn all at once.”

“Watch this!” Junhui grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to the mouth of the cave and when his feet left the earth they all cried out in shock. Vampires hadn’t flown for hundreds of years. It was a myth, a legend, a tale only told. But to their eyes disbelief Junhui flew around the beach and landed back with a light thump on the sand. Mingyu shook his head but couldn’t hide his fascination. “I’m still not sure about this Junhui,” he said but the viper was quick to placate.

“Please, Mingyu, I haven’t given my heart away in a thousand years, and now it has begun to beat. Please, we’ll save the fae blood, we can drink it right before we go. What have we got to lose?”

They walked back into the safety of the cave to find Seokmin happily munching away on the heart. “Junhui this is delicious,” he said with joy all over his face, his mouth filled with the tough raw muscle. “Thank you Junhui,” Chan said as he and Seungkwan and Hansol bowed their gratitude before wanting off to sleep again. The stag blood had been enough but not ideal.It would keep them alive for a few more days at least.

Happiest was Soonyoung with his mild taste of fae blood. His cheeks were flushed and round as he stood in the mouth of the cave trying to fly. “How much did you drink?” he asked and Junhui smiled wistfully. “A decent mouthful but not nearly enough. I can’t wait for you to see my little Wuyi frog. He’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Damnit Junhui,” Mingyu said as he wiped the stag blood from his chin. “I send you out for a meal and you fall in love; you’re the last vampire I expected to fall victim to matters of the heart. This forest is strange and I don’t like it.” The Prince was wary, as he should be, he had the fate of his people on his shoulders. But he couldn’t resist the look on Junhui’s face as he silently begged him to reconsider.

At least if they died in this forest he would die knowing his brother had happiness no matter how fleeting. Happiness for a vampire was like trying to catch the sand slipping between their fingers never knowing how to grasp it.

“We have to go,” Junhui said as they watched Soonyoung climb up the side of the cave, “the frog fae said something to me.” “What?” Mingyu’s eyes flashed in the darkness as he pulled the viper aside. He looked around but they were alone. Seokmin was still busy with the stag heart and Soonyoung was in a fae blood haze. The babies had gone to sleep in a pile covered in old blankets and moth eaten coats.

Junhui’s eyes glittered with a life Mingyu had never seen and he was transfixed by the way the vipers chest rose and fell with breath. 

“Amaranthus,” Junhui said with delight as he watched Mingyu’s face crumble. “It grows all over their citadel which looks out over the ocean.”

Mingyu looked around again. “We’ll go. Just you, me, Soonyoung. Not the babies. We can’t risk them, we’ll leave Seokmin in charge, it has to be only us.” “Yes, of course,” Junhui nodded his agreement. He’d agree to anything to see his little fae again. Heat spread in his chest and down his stomach and for the first time in a thousand years he felt warm.

“We’ll drink the fae blood and go to this party and you better not get me killed Wen Junhui,” Mingyu scowled then smiled and he pulled Junhui in for a warm hug. “Thank you brother,” he whispered in his ear and Junhui hugged him back. 

Three nights later, the moon high and full, Mingyu stood alone on a beach. The pebbles glittered under his feet, his boots worn and shabby, the fur coat around his shoulders musty and stale. But his face was full of youth and hope as it turned up towards the moon. “Please,” he spoke aloud as her gaze cast a cold blue glow across his regal features. “Please keep my brothers safe. Please give me strength, the strength to reach for what I need, the strength to resist that which I don’t.”

He closed his eyes and grasped desperately for a thread, a single strand, anything to tie him to the past. His memories still refused to float to the surface and he was tired of sinking.

A hand landed on his shoulder and they were there. His brothers, his responsibility but also his salvation, his lifelong guards ready to lay their lives on the line.

“It will be fine,” Junhui said, “we’ll keep you safe. We need to find the amaranthus that hides within the walls.” “We do,” Soonyoung’s smile was blinding under the gentle caress of moonlight. “We have to trust the guides that brought us here. The tiger wouldn’t show me the wrong way.”

Mingyu nodded. The grey fox had told him what to do. He trusted his animal guide and had to believe the fox would lead him to his crown.

_Find your crown. Hold on to it. Clutch it close, covet it, treasure it._

_Do whatever it takes._

He had to take a chance.

“Let’s prepare,” he said as he walked back inside. The cave was bitterly cold and he crouched over the dying fire and stoked the blaze. “Keep them safe,” he said as he sipped his finger in the opalescent swirl of fae blood still thick in the plastic cup. Seokmin opened his mouth and accepted the blood offering from his Prince, suckling at his finger, grimacing at the taste. It must be different for a turned vampire like so many things were. “It tastes of dirty water,” he chuckled as he moved to guard the entrance of the cave.

“Be good for Seokmin,” Mingyu smiled at his babies as they lined up for a taste. Each accepted the small amount of fae blood from his finger with delighted expressions. “Why do I feel so warm?” Hansol asked with awe and Seungkwan caressed his smooth cheeks. “Because you are,” he breathed out and gasped when he saw the hot fog of his own exhalation dance across the air.

Mingyu watched Junhui affix his flower crown with a strange sort of envy. He’d never seen his brother so completely consumed by anything; he’d spoken of nothing but the Wuyi frog since his solo hunt in the forest. Mingyu suddenly felt a little afraid. Not that he was scared of being hurt physically. Just that maybe he was unprepared emotionally. He had no idea what he would find on his path back to restoration.

“Give me strength little grey fox,” he said quietly as Soonyoung moved to stand by his side. When his second lieutenant sipped at the blood his eyes grew wider than they’d ever been. “My Prince,” he husked as he bounced on his toes, “I feel like I can fly!”

Junhui chuckled. They didn’t know the true power of tasting it from the source. He was going to find his fae tonight and take a little more and maybe even enjoy the feeling of Minghao’s smooth skin melting under the cold heat of his fingertips. He accepted the cup and only took a small sip. He wanted to be in his right mind when he chased down and captured his little Wuyi frog.

Mingyu went last. The Vagrant Prince walked outside alone and drained the cup before staring into the empty vessel. As soon as the taste hit him he felt warmth and life flood his veins. It was like waves crashing on the shore of an island long deserted, the dryness of the sand instantly crumbling the definition of his constitution, the ebb and flow of the fae blood roaring through his veins.

“Amaranthus,” the grey fox whispered from beside him and Mingyu struggled to see straight. “Amaranthus?” he repeated, slurring his words a little, the sweet trickle of blood tickling his chin.

“Look for the Prince’s Feather,” the fox said before he turned towards the water. “Your crown will bleed for you.”

Mingyu tried to clear his head but the blood was too intoxicating. Suddenly memories rushed back, memories of a tree, of two spirits trapped inside, of chains and bark and blinding crackling light. He tried to catch the tail of the memory but it was gone as fast as it came.

“Prince‘s Feather,” he mumbled to himself and shook his head again. “Are you ready?” Junhui appeared beside him and the scent of wild water lily sobered him a little. “You look beautiful,” Mingyu murmured as he toyed with a white swan feather in Junhui’s flower crown. “I hope you catch your little frog tonight.”

They divided the pebbles equally between themselves, said goodbye to the babies, and off the went into the forest. The bright lights of the citadel could be seen from miles away and the closer they got the hotter the tingle spread down Mingyu’s spine. He could smell the scent of wildflowers winding through the air.


	5. Chapter 5

“This better work,” Mingyu muttered to his soldiers as they flanked him on each side. They approached the entrance to the tall wrought iron gates with the fae blood running hotly through their ice cold veins and the gifted concealment pebbles tumbling in their pockets.

“My little frog won’t lead me astray...” Junhui blinked a few times and, to Mingyu’s horror, a single blood tear marred his perfect cheek. “You can’t keep crying,” Mingyu giggled a little as he wiped the blood and then licked any trace away with his tongue. “I can’t help it,” Junhui sniffled and sucked back his tears. “I’m an emotional drunk.”

Mingyu understood. There was such an intoxicating effect lingering inside him from the faerie blood that it was affecting all their judgment. His knees wobbled a little and he inhaled, shockingly, a feeling so foreign it shook him to his core.

“I want my Wuyi frog,” Junhui whispered and they silenced themselves as they approached the guards. One was definitely not human, he was stunningly good looking with fine silken hair and a pair of elegant pointed ears. Eyes of gold flecked with green bored deep into Mingyu’s soul as they approached the entrance and he felt Soonyoung grip tightly to his hand. Looking at the bright faerie was like staring straight into the sun and the heady scent of heliotrope and fertile bamboo flowers hung in the air around him filling the night with an intangible sweetness.

It was the other fae who stood guard at the gate that had captured Soonyoung’s attention. He was small and fair with cherry blossom pink hair and skin as white as milk, long beautiful fingers flitting around the neckline of his robe, its edges decorated with soft blue petals.

“Don’t...” Mingyu whispered under his breath and wished like never before that they had an established telepathy. Alas they didn’t and Soonyoung was in no mood to heed the word of his prince. He walked dreamlike and smitten straight towards the fae and bent down in a full bow before kneeling before him.

“By the end of this night if I haven’t been blessed with a dance then for what wasted reason did I come?” Soonyoung’s words were as honey sweet as they were genuine and they fell out of his mouth like the thirteen songs of a lark carried across the cool breeze.

Mingyu stood and watched as a foreign sense of fear flooded his body and he hoped desperately for the competence of the concealment charms they carried.

The fae seemed a little stunned as he stared at Soonyoung kneeling before him in the mud. “I-ah... I’m busy working. Sorry.” His words were stern but the flush across his cheeks was more revealing than what came out of his mouth. “Hey,” the other fae laughed and his eyes sparkled green like the light of a whole stellar constellation. “We’re going to lock the gates soon then Jihoon will be free to dance all he wants. Look for him inside.” 

Soonyoung picked himself up from the earth as a smile crept across his lips. “Jihoon, the fairest name I’ve ever heard, my ears are blessed with simply knowing.” Mingyu rolled his eyes and grabbed for his arm and pulled his vampire soldier away from the fae guarding the gates before they could draw any more attention. This was far from the most inconspicuous entrance they could have made. He hoped it wasn’t a fatal mistake.

The trio stepped inside the gates and were greeted with an opulence and ostentatiousness Mingyu never dreamed of. The Vagrant Prince in his moth eaten fur, his hair filled with dust and his skin marred with dirt, was in a palace of rich extravagance. He tried to stop the gape of his jaw as he walked through the verdant garden, the overhang of wisteria and willow, the scent of both flower and fae all around him. A moment of panic washed over him as he stared down at his dusty rags but when he looked up again he realised the whole crowd was dressed in varying degrees of what looked like fancy dress. This was somewhat of a costume party.

“It worked,” Junhui breathed as he inhaled and searched for the scent. His hand in his pocket fussed and fidgeted with the concealment stones, the pebbles smooth and cool to the touch, their presence a comfort and a link to his prey. “We should split up.” His eyes darted around as he sensed the heat in the air. There were definitely humans here and they smelled delicious. He was a solitary hunter and the pit viper did not want to share any of his prey tonight. First he would feed, then he would search the crowd, until he found his little Wuyi frog and brushed the mud from his love’s fine curls.

“I agree,” Soonyoung stretched his arms long and lean and extended his claws before retracting them. The tiger hunted alone and he was hungry. The life force he’d been leeching from Seokmin wasn’t doing either of them any good and the power running through his veins from the fae blood was just enough of a taste for him to crave more. 

“Stay away from the one at the gate,” Mingyu hissed under his breath and Soonyoung’s sharp eyes sparkled under the full moon. “He smelled so good and he was so beautiful though.. Can’t I try him? If only just for a taste?” Mingyu sighed heavily and shoved his hands in his pockets. His lieutenants were like children when they wanted something and he knew they wouldn’t quit. “Just don’t get our cover blown,” he mumbled and Soonyoung vanished in a blink.

“Trouble finds him,” Junhui said as he walked beside Mingyu into the front door of the citadel. Gleaming white pillars and arches greeted them like a shining city of bones as they entered through two huge wooden doors. The scent of fae and human, witch and wizard, elf and gnome and shapeshifter was an assault on their senses. It was suffocating, overwhelming, and Mingyu’s stomach began to rumble even though the intoxicating rush of fae blood still ran in his veins. “Soonyoung’s going to get us all killed one day,” Mingyu murmured in response as they made their way into the crowd.

“Come out,” Jisoo begged as he stood in the doorway. “You can’t make me,” a petulant Prince pouted and shook his head. He hated all of this. His robes were as white as fresh fallen snow and his hair was curled artfully and adorned with a crown of feathers. Pearl jewellery of indescribable value decorated his ears and his throat and wrists and was warmed by the blood pulsing close to the surface of his skin. 

The Prince considered the party awful and such a waste of a beautiful full moon. Heaven for Wonwoo would be the freedom to discard the trappings of his princedom and run down to the beach, bare and cold in the night air, his skin soaking in every scatter of delicate light the moon bathed down on him. He didn’t want this party and he didn’t want whatever his guardians had planned for him. Presentation, parade, at best a night of small talk with other elites in the fae world and them fawning over his beauty and poise and grace. At worst, that was what he dreaded, maybe he would be sacrificed on an alter with the moon and a crowd of strangers the last thing he saw. 

Maybe he was to be sold off to some far flung kingdom as a bride for a crusty old king?

Maybe he was going to be eaten by a wild animal for sport?

Maybe his imagination was wilder than any animal.

Wonwoo fussed with the freshly tanned hide of the silver stag laid out on his bed. The sleek fur felt like velvet under his long thin fingers and he stroked it as he admired the way the strands rumpled against the grain. He felt the rush of glory knowing just days ago this regal beast walked the paths of the forest. Now its place was here, lifeless, its only purpose to serve his aesthetic desires. 

“Please,” Jisoo begged, implored, and Wonwoo felt almost sorry for his much-harried advisor. The scent of bamboo and heady fertility always hung in a haze around his most diligent teacher and Wonwoo smiled as he flicked a feather at him. “What do they want of me tonight?” he asked and Jisoo knew he spoke of the guardians. “They just want to present you, their most beautiful flower, their precious everlasting Amaranth to the fae world. You will soon rule it with a queen by your side and when you both take your place on the throne the fae will be powerful beyond question.”

“A queen?” Wonwoo murmured as he toyed with the strand of pink pearls around his wrist. “How dull. Who is this delicate flower that must be punished by spending a lifetime with me?” “She has not been found or made yet,” Jisoo admitted. “Jeonghan wishes to use his wrist bone but Seungcheol disagrees. He thinks it best to fashion her from one of the feathers in your hair.” Wonwoo shuddered.

He didn’t want a queen, soft and dainty, to sit silently by his side. A queen in name and appearance only, destined to exist purely for vanity and appearances, a silent companion devoid of vitality or mischief. He didn’t want rose petals or lavender stems following him around all the time and he definitely didn’t want to impregnate a bland empty vessel existing only for him to fill her up.

“I don’t want a queen,” Wonwoo grumbled as he got up from his bed and walked over to his teacher. “Maybe you can be my empty vessel,” he smirked as he clutched the stag fur to his chest and inhaled deeply at the pulse point on Jisoo’s neck. “You smell fertile, fresh, and so alive Jisoo.”

Giggles erupted out of his mouth as Jisoo shrank back in shame. “D-don’t tease,” he stammered and Wonwoo twirled a little with the grey fur flying like a trail of thick smoke. “Don’t tease me then. I don’t want a queen and I don’t want to be presented to society or the fae kingdom or whatever they’re doing today.” Wonwoo turned and walked back to the wide French doors open to let in the evening breeze and the sound of party music. It blew up just as he walked over and the wind swirled around him, making his long white robes flutter in a flurry, feathers flying around him and landing on the hems of his sleeves.

Sitting on top of the wall behind his pond, regal and stoic in the bushel of amaranthus, was a fox. It was grey and small, its ears black as the night behind it, its eyes wide and golden and glowing beautifully in the light spilling from the doorway. Its mind beckoned to Wonwoo and he turned around but it appeared Jisoo couldn’t see it. “Come closer,” it whispered and Wonwoo stepped outside, the stone beneath his feet freezing his bare toes.

“Your love lies bleeding,” the fox said in his mind. He could swear it was smiling at him as its tail flicked in the blossoms long and dark and dripping from the wall. “His heart is bleeding and he needs you. He waits for you. He longs for you to make him whole again.”

“My love?” Wonwoo repeated softly so Jisoo wouldn’t hear. He turned and saw the teacher fussing to collect all the feathers he’d spilled when he got up from the bed. “Where lies my love that his blood runs free? Where is my heart kept hidden that I cannot find it?” He toyed with the pearls around his wrist again and the fox seemed to smile as he walked along the wall.

“He has travelled a long way to find you my prince,” the fox walked back and forth and as he walked the blossoms turned back from rich falls of burgundy into a fine pink spray then blood hued burgundy again.

“He has walked across a world, his clothes tattered and dry, his body worn out through work. He has walked for a thousand years and tonight he has come here to meet you. He has come to claim his crown.”

_Is that me_ , Wonwoo thought, _am I his crown?_

“Yes. You must remember to not be afraid. Your Prince isn’t what you think but he is more than what you need. In his arms you will find the truth and a reflection of who you really are.”

Wonwoo had no time to think before the fox was gone. Hummingbirds picked at the feathers in his hair and flitted around with them in their beaks as he blinked a few times into the empty space on the wall. This was what he’d been craving, needing, imagining for so long. Desperate hunger clawed in his stomach pining for excitement and danger and someone to breath life into his bland cold existence.

“I’ve changed my mind,” he sang out merrily to Jisoo, the teacher stunned by the turn of events, as Wonwoo walked back in and turned to the dressing table in his room. Jisoo watched in silence as the faerie fussed with his appearance in a way he’d never bothered before. The strange and unexpected sight of his fae prince, pewter brush in hand, fixing his hair and pinching colour into his own cheeks had the teacher reeling. “Excuse me for asking my Prince but are you feeling okay?” 

“Of course I’m feeling okay,” Wonwoo snapped as he turned on the gilded seat. “I’m about to be presented to society and experience the most thrilling night of my life. Now where is Minghao for I will need my most loyal attendant?” Jisoo sniffed a little into his sleeve and turned to find the frog as the scent of elusive bamboo flower and barley remained in the air when he left.

“My love lies bleeding,” he murmured to himself as he stared in the mirror. He’d never felt dissatisfaction with his face. Although he bore no memory of his clan or kin or family he assumed they must have been the pinnacle of royal fae beauty. His own looks were a reflection of the cold hard exquisiteness of his inherent nature. 

Wonwoo was as stunning as the full moon and glowed with the same icy luminescence as the goddess above them. His hair was the soft sable curl of night that wrapped around consciousness before dawn. His eyes were shrewd and sharp and cutting and he could see through the false courtesies and simpering compliments laid before him.

As he tried again to pinch some rose into the pale white apple of his cheek he forced himself to smile. Would his love want that? Would his love be expecting a soft royal slave? A gentle lover with dandelion’s fuzz in his touches and the melody of a nightingale in his voice? Would he have to play a part to make his way out of the serene nightmare he was living every day?

He would endure for just a brief moment of delight, of excitement and satisfaction, for the adrenaline he craved. Wonwoo would endure to know real love, to taste its kiss and feel its fire; if he had to he would fly too close to the sun and risk the burn of his heart’s wings.

“My prince?” the little Wuyi frog called from the doorway and gasped when Wonwoo turned. The feathers in his hair caught the breeze and floated around his face as the pearls at his throat threw light and shone as if polished rocks made smooth by the years. 

“You’re so pretty!” Minghao leaped across the bed in one bound, his hands too big as they reached out for Wonwoo’s face, and the prince pushed him back with a laugh. “So usually I’m ugly?” he chuckled deeply and Minghao’s face twisted from mirth into a pout. “You’re always pretty,” he said as one hand reached out to finger a decorative chain in his hair, the frog’s long fingers tracing the pale silver pearls, the rich cream tone of the feathers in the end of the string, the scattering of tiny diamonds caught in the feather’s long vanes. “You’re so lucky. You’ll find your prince while I have to try and make myself worthy of simply being the pit viper’s prey.”

“The pit viper?” Wonwoo stood and fixed Minghao’s robes which were askew from his rush. “Yes, I invited some new friends as a surprise for you, a gift for my Prince on his debut. The pit viper loves to feed on the little frog but this one is especially beautiful and dangerous and I don’t know if I’m worthy.” 

The scent of pond mud and lilies filled the room and Wonwoo reached out to hug his friend as the little frog sniffled in sadness. “You are worthy. I know you are. If he doesn’t want you then I’ll destroy him.” Minghao laughed at that because he knew it was true. His beautiful prince might have the appearance of an angel sent from heaven but he was deadly in his own way and without remorse for his actions. Minghao wouldn’t want to cross him. The pit viper shouldn’t either, Minghao thought, as he took Wonwoo’s arm and escorted his Prince to the party.

They descended the stairs to raucous applause. “Our Prince!” Jeonghan led the cheers as the room erupted and Wonwoo wanted to hide. He stiffened his spine and remembered his deportment as he walked slowly down the oak-railed staircase, his bare feet light on the blood red carpets, his smile false for the room of fae nobility. “I thought you were never going to come out,” Jeonghan said as he walked up to take Wonwoo’s arm and escort him. Seungcheol moved to the other side, the little flakes of dried lavender dusting his dark hair, the warm and soothing aura surrounding them all in calm and coherence. Minghao disappeared wordlessly into the crowd. The Champion of Roses terrified him even more than the pit viper without any of the attraction. 

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” Jeonghan’s eyes sparkled with delight and he dragged Wonwoo towards a group of guests. They were nobility, clearly, and Minghao disappeared with a croak and a flurry of limbs into the crowd. A tall elven man stood at least seven feet tall making even Wonwoo seem small by comparison. His partner, as white and blond as she was beautiful, stood silent by his side as they pulled a third elf to the front of the group. “Our daughter, for your consideration, a fine beauty she is to behold.”

The elfin child, fine and fair, had hair the colour of orange zest. Her eyes were as clear as the sea on a still morning and her nose was smattered with a fine sprinkling of brown freckles. She smiled prettily up to the ends of her pointed ears and Wonwoo shuddered. She smelled like orange blossom and mint and he hated her instantly.

“A pleasure to meet you,” he palavered falsely and bowed to the radiant pride of his guardians. He bent to kiss her hand and when he stood his eyes caught the sight of someone across the crowd. Someone who was something he’d never seen before.

Wonwoo knew of all manner of fae and beast. He’d learned about spells and weapons, chants and potions, he’d learned about all the races of fae and human. However, across the crowd, when his eyes laid heavy and warm on the face of this creature, his heart leaped in his chest. 

This was a creature unlike anyone he’d ever seen before. His hair was as dark as Wonwoo’s but had none of the sable lustre. It looked dirty and dusty and bare somehow, like it was missing a vital adornment, and Wonwoo was overcome with the desire to make it whole. His skin glowed from within, like the pulse of the beating sun ran through his veins, like the warmth and life of the summer sky had been bottled and contained within this long lean body. 

The creature’s eyes were dark and sharp but while Wonwoo’s were cold this man’s were hot with fire like two blazing coals. He was stunning, breathtaking, and every single cell in Wonwoo’s body screamed at him to get closer somehow. The man hadn’t noticed him and Wonwoo was glad, He felt as though he would melt under the gaze of the other, as if his fragile heart couldn’t beat that much beauty, as if he would crumble into dust upon the wind and scatter outside on the ocean at one glance form this tall statuesque beauty.

“Nessa…” she said and Wonwoo’s attention refocused from its falter. “I’m sorry,” he said and the child moved closer to him. “My name. It’s Nessa,” she repeated as she drew him a little way away from the crowd.

“Take her to dance,” Jeonghan hissed and disappeared in a cloud of pink petals. Wonwoo felt dizzy, numb from shock, his head spinning with visions of the sun and the ocean and a warm wet death. He led Nessa to the dance floor by hand while his head craned for another vision of the tall dark man. He searched and spotted him just as he wheeled onto the floor with the elven child in his arms and the music played a merry flowery tune.

He spun the elf around in his arms but she felt nothing but cold to the touch. “How old are you?” he asked and she smirked in a knowing way. “Old enough,” she said with a smile that made Wonwoo feel cold down to his bones. “I’m six hundred and seventy four years old and already mature. I’ll make a fine queen to sit beside you.” 

Bile rose in his chest.

A lifetime spent next to her was nothing if not worth the berating he was going to get. He dropped her hand and spun from the floor in a flurry of pearls and snowy white feathers. He ran barefoot and light form the dancefloor to the back doors where he threw them open into the yard. The square courtyard was dark, no lights lit to encourage the party guests outside and he couldn’t see a thing as he ran to lean against the cold of the wall and gather his thoughts.

He leaned and gasped, oxygen failing him as the bile rose, he wanted to heave and vomit it all out on the ground. Instead, he slowed his chest, took a few calming breaths, finally gained his bearing and refocused his eyes.

It was then that he saw him.

He was there, on the ground, lying in the grass that edged the courtyard. His back was against the wall, his hands folded across his stomach, in his still state he almost looked like he could be dead. Amaranthus spilled all around him from the wall above making it seem like he was seated in a blood red throne of flowers. A beautiful corpse ensconced in a seat of amaranth and moonlight.

When Wonwoo took one step towards him his eyes fluttered open and Wonwoo wanted to cry at what he held within them. For within all the depths of the deep brown pools was held every question Wonwoo had ever wanted answered.

“What are you?” he murmured as he dropped to his knees in the grass. His pristine white robe was smeared with grass stains as he shuffled towards the other. As he reached a hand out towards a honey coloured cheek Wonwoo saw that it was as smeared as his clean white robes. The man, or creature, was bleeding.

“Are you okay?” Wonwoo wiped the blood from the other’s cheek with his hand and shuddered at the smell. It reeked of dark and damp and death, of fire and blood and salt and smoke, he could smell the lure of a thunderstorm and the whorl of a tornado in the blood on his palm. It left the taste of lust on his tongue.

“I’m Mingyu,” the creature said, man or fae Wonwoo still couldn’t tell, and another thick red tear fell from his eye. “I’m Wonwoo. You’re bleeding,” Wonwoo murmured as he wiped Mingyu’s cheek again and licked the blood from his fingers.

Heat shot through his body from his tongue down to his groin. Wonwoo gasped as every muscle in his body constructed and flexed and flushed, as the flicker of chemistry fanned into flame, as he hungered for more than a taste of the other.

“I’m crying tears for the first time in ten centuries,” Mingyu said with more than a little awe in his voice. He struggled to sit up taller and pulled the fae into his lap. “I feel it within you,” Wonwoo’s voice was low and thick and heavy with intrigue. “I feel the sun and fire and death inside you.”

“Then with this lone kiss let me die.” Mingyu cupped Wonwoo’s cheeks with his fingertips, as soft as the touch of a dandelion, and leaned forward just enough. Their lips met, then their tongues, and Wonwoo was falling, drowning, burning.

When they pulled apart Wonwoo’s cheeks were wet and scarlet with the hot pain of Mingyu’s tears. “I swear on the moon I have never met anyone so beautiful or warm,” Wonwoo said as his pearls glittered at his throat and in his hair. “Don’t swear upon the moon, my Prince, for her face is ever changing. Swear instead upon the amaranthus for its beauty is eternal.”

“I swear it,” Wonwoo gasped, breathless, leaning down for another kiss. In that moment time seemed as endless as the sea swirling outside the walls and nothing else mattered but the icy warmth in his chest.

He fell victim to the heat rushing through his veins and hungered, craved, to feel the man below him. To feel him hotter, wetter, to feel his very nature from the inside. “What are you?” he asked again as he straddled Mingyu’s hips and felt the rush of blood in his cock for the first time ever. “I’m the Vagrant Prince,” Mingyu replied as his fingers held delicate grips on Wonwoo’s hips. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I walked across worlds....” his words were cut off as Wonwoo captured them in a kiss even deeper. 

Mingyu groaned at the hot weight of Wonwoo in his lap and knew he’d never felt warmer. This was it, his crown, he’d found it at last and it was more than he’d ever hoped for. The rich scent of fae and the weight of him on his lap made him feel more alive than he had in a thousand years. His mind grew vacant, foggy and relaxed, as he let Wonwoo lick into his mouth and grind down on his lap. 

He couldn’t stop the tears as they spilled and mingled with their mouths as the kiss grew wetter and more desperate. Mingyu didn’t know if this was what the fox intended but who was he to stop it when it felt so right. His crown was in his arms and how they would make their world whole again was to be determined by fate alone.

It was only then that the cold of night crept aching and cruel up Mingyu’s spine. His crown was fae, his love was pure, and royalty as well. Mingyu was a beggar, a vagrant, death was inside him and warmth was void. The love his Prince craved could never be found in the empty vessel of the Vagrant Prince no matter how he tried to fill it.

Mingyu was dangerous, deadly, his true nature concealed. How would this lovely creature react when he knew the truth?

A bell rang eleven times and a voice rang out from the doorway. “Wonwoo?” it called to him and the Prince leaped from his lovers arms. “The Lavender Sentinel calls me. I can’t let him find us yet. I need time.....” He stood up and tried to brush the grass from his knees and the blood from his fingertips. His lips were smeared with Mingyu’s tears bloody and crimson turning black as they oxidised in the night. 

“Wait,” Mingyu reached out to the Prince who turned and smiled. “Come back at three, the hour of the owl, we will be safe in my room until the nightingale sings. The wall facing the ocean, it’s covered in amaranthus, the kind they call Love-Lies-Bleeding.”

“And so I will not wish you goodnight, just a short goodbye, parting with the taste of you on my lips and in my heart.” Mingyu stood and bowed, the dust in his hair scattering like leaves on the wind, his smile as bright as the sudden bloom of heliotrope. 

“I will anticipate your return to me with a happy heart,” Wonwoo smiled at him and Mingyu clutched his chest. It was like looking upon the face of an angel and he inhaled deeply and oxygen flooded his veins. Wonwoo removed the string of pearls from his wrist and reached up to brush the dust from Mingyu’s hair. When he’d fussed to his satisfaction he wound the pearls shining amongst newly shining locks and added a few feathers for good measure.

When one last lone tear ran down Mingyu’s cheek Wonwoo licked it clean with his tongue. “My life has been dominated by a certain craving and now, with you my Vagrant Prince, it seems my thirst will be quenched.”

“Wonwoo,” a voice called again and before he could steal one last kiss Mingyu was alone in the courtyard. He shook his head and blinked as he tried to process what happened but the warmth in his heart was real and undeniable. His crown was all he wanted and more.

If only he would handle the truth of Mingyu’s nature, the honourable soldier inside the wild villain, the gentle lamb inside the savage beast. If only Wonwoo could endure they may be able to unravel the truth of both their natures.

As he toyed with the prince’s feather between his fingers, a precious token of love blooming, Mingyu smiled at the sky.

He prayed to the fox and to the moon above that their pleasures would not be so violent as to send them uncontrollably towards violent ends. The fire burning in his chest was new and warm and comforting but what was the nature of fire if not to consume.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// blood 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you enjoy; poorly edited (am very tired)

He found Soonyoung huddled in a corner looking particularly glum. “My brother,” Mingyu cooed as he tried to pull him to his feet, “your heart is troubled. I can sense it.” “I want to eat him,” Soonyoung indicated a soft looking faerie with bright pink hair. “I’m so confused. He smells so good I want to just devour him right here but then I’ll get in trouble. Right?” his eyes blinked widely up at Mingyu who nodded down at his lieutenant. “Yes Soonyoung. No eating the faeries.”

“Just a little?” Soonyoung whined as he blinked long and slow. Mingyu could tell the vampire was coming down hard from the high of fae blood and he needed to get home. “Please my Prince, just let me nibble at his little toes, just a taste....” Soonyoung frowned again and his lashes fluttered like caterpillars on his cheeks. Mingyu looked from his friend melting into an intoxicated puddle and over to the pink haired faerie scowling fiercely at a table of food. He was sure the fae would beat Soonyoung to a pulp before he let him nibble at his toes but he just chuckled and pulled the vampire to his feet.

“Come on Soonie,” Mingyu’s voice soothing, unusually warm and comforting, “let’s find Junhui and get you home.”

Mingyu sniffed the air and scented carefully and followed the telltale smell of his oldest friend. He dragged Soonyoung with him out of the main ballroom and into a courtyard and the air was thick with the iron taste of blood and the pungent tang of sweat. Mingyu crouched low and grabbed Soonyoung’s arm, pulling the sluggish vampire into a shrub beside him, both silent as they hid and huddled and watched what was happening in the darkness.

“Minghao,” Junhui whispered through chapped lips and hoarse breath. “Minghao.....” he whined a little louder as the frog faerie’s hands dragged the fabric of his shirt higher to bunch up under his neck. The grass beneath them was dewy and cool and their bodies were hot where they pressed against each other. Minghao dragged his unusually long tongue, unsettlingly inhuman even to a vampire, tasting the bare skin of Junhui’s exposed stomach.

“Let’s trade,” Minghao hissed and Junhui arched his back. He was every inch the pit viper as his long limbs and supple back writhed and curled beneath the attentions of the frog. Junhui was mesmerised and drew his wrist to his mouth and his eyes glowed green then gold then green again. The glint of a fang in the moonlight flashed and as it pieced his wrist blood began to gush from the wound.

“Here my love,” Junhui held his wrist out and Minghao took it to his lips. “Drink and become stronger and you won’t need the concealment spells any more.” Blood smeared all around Minghao’s mouth and ran down his neck as he feasted on the flow. His eyes glazed over and he was suddenly frenzied, pulling away from Junhui, dragging his pants down his legs and throwing them aside.

“My prince,” Soonyoung whispered as he gripped Mingyu’s arm, sobered by the scene in front of them, “are we really going to watch this?” “Someone should guard them,” Mingyu whispered back, “they aren’t as strong as they think they are. We need to make sure they’re safe in this most vulnerable of moments.”

The vampires hidden in the shroud of shrub watched on as Minghao took his cock from his pants and spread Junhui wide. Junhui seemed to be in a daze, almost in a trance like state, as he lay pliant and willing and patient. They couldn’t hear what Minghao was whispering to the pit viper but they watched on as the fae shifted his weight to his knees and pushed inside the vampire.

As soon as he was entered Junhui snapped awake from his hypnotic state. The savage noise that rolled from his chest was as quiet as it was fierce and as Minghao began to grind slow and deep into him he pulled the fae closer. His tongue licked slow stripes down the side of Minghao’s neck before he bit down hard making the little frog faerie scream.

Soonyoung looked away but Mingyu was transfixed by the sight as his best friend was held down and fucked hard. The smell of fae blood filled the air and Mingyu watched it spill from Junhui’s mouth and run down his neck as the vampire drank and moaned and rolled his hips in carnal desperation. 

“Minghao,” the vampires gasp was sapped of strength and lazy with the heady warmth of pleasure. He looked the perfect image of the snake as his back arched off the damp grass and his mouth hung slackened and dripping with the little frog’s blood. His orgasm left him lax as he finally relaxed into the dew and as Minghao’s hips began to grind slower and deeper he melted into the glittering wet grass.

“Another taste,” the frog begged of him and who was Junhui to refuse? He bit down and pierced his wrist again and as Minghao suckled hungrily he came inside Junhui’s body. As he was riding out his orgasm Minghao stopped sucking and dropped his head into the crook of Junhui’s neck and the vampire held him close. The small exchange of blood brought him a little closer to what he wanted; even though he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.

“Thank you pit viper,” Minghao smirked as he leaned back on his heels and began to tuck himself back inside his trousers. “You don’t want to clean yourself?” Junhui was in no rush to move from his place spread wide in the moonlight. The frog fae chuckled, almost giggled, and the sound was so inhuman it was terrifying. “No pit viper, I want to smell you on me all night, why would I want to wash away your seed?” He smirked as he wrapped his robe over his bare stomach streaked with cum and mixed witha little blood that had dropped from his chin. The clouds shifted and when Junhui finally sat up he reached out a hand in wonder.

“Your skin....” he murmured as he stroked a strand of Minghao’s hair back from his face. The spots of brown and gold on his skin that gave away his frog nature were fading before his eyes. “Thank you pit viper. For your gift of blood I have become less frog and more......” the glint of mischief in Minghao’s eyes was maddening. “More of what, I don’t know, but more of what I want to be.” Junhui was still bare, trousers tossed aside and shirt hiked up around his neck, but he didn’t care. He watched on in fascination as the frog pulled a handful of pebbles from his pocket and tossed them aside into a garden bed.

“Your magic has made mine stronger,” he said and with one last wild thread of laughter weaving in the wind he leaped over the wall and was gone.

“You can come out of the bushes now,” Junhui called out and Mingyu laughed. “Cover yourself first Junhui. We don’t need to see any more than we already have.” Junhui sat up and began covering himself with his dirty, threadbare rags, his dusty trousers and old shirt nothing like the finery worn by even the little Wuyi frog. The servants in this citadel dressed better than the vampires. When he was clothed and decent Mingyu walked over to him and leaned down to help him to his feet. “Do I need to help you walk?” his smirk was mocking and Junhui scowled. “My Prince, so much fae blood fills my body I could beat even you in a fight.” 

“Not just his blood that’s filled your body this night!” Soonyoung had recovered somewhat and was delighted to join in the teasing. “Minghao....” he moaned in imitation of the other vampire who hissed and grabbed him playfully by the hair. “My men,” Mingyu pulled them both by the arm making them stop their playful tussle. “We need to get out of here before the concealments wear down.”

They slipped back inside and around the edges of the ballroom. Mingyu, his height an advantageous position, looked for a last glimpse of his new found love. His heart skipped a beat in his chest when he saw the faerie seated on a throne of gold with pearls lining its gilt edges. His stomach churned with nerves as he saw the line of suitors palavering before him. This would be a hard battle to fight and he hadn’t even considered the hardest part. The beautiful dark fae on the throne, feathers in his hair and grass stains on his knees, had no idea what he was.

Would he still want him when the truth of Mingyu’s nature was laid bare?

Would be still want him when he knew what dark power resided within the Vagrant Prince? Would he shed his clothing and spread Mingyu wide open and make him his under witness of the moon? Or would he run scared, flittering from his grasp like a frightened hummingbird, slipping through his fingertips like the years had so quickly?

Mingyu gasped when sable eyes met his from so far away. He shook off the melting gaze of his fae prince and slipped from the ballroom in silence. His lieutenants, one newly sobered one freshly intoxicated, marched beside him as they walked from the citadel and into the vast walled gardens of the palace.

As they headed towards the unguarded gates a crackle of leaves gave away a shadow in the darkness. Mingyu stiffened and readied to fight but the figure that emerged was tempestuous and wild but hard to take seriously with its soft pink hair. 

“Your sweet words drip like honey but are as empty as an endless void.” The faerie scowled savagely as he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Soonyoung’s head. “You embarrassed me in front of my brothers and yet, for what? A promise left unfulfilled.”

Soonyoung stared in shock before throwing himself at the feet of the faerie with the allium hair like a halo. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled as he crawled across the damp earth to grovel at his feet. “Your face did not give me any reason to think my advances were welcome. I was simply being careful and guarding my life.”

Soonyoung looked up at the face of the fae, Jihoon was his name, and it was as sweet upon his lips as confectioners sugar. “Jihoon, I beg, another night. Let me come for you and we shall dance alone, where the allium bloom and no one can watch us, where the song in our hearts will be silent but for the rush of running water.”

“You want to dance with me in a field of onions?” Jihoon could barely contain his smirk as it threatened the corners of his lips. “Well, they are pretty, and very useful,” Soonyoung smiled up at him from the ground before standing. “A kiss on the fingers to seal my words into a promise I could never break. For now I must leave with my brothers but with your permission I will return to dance another night.” To his delight Jihoon held out his hand and Soonyoung took it in his. He pressed kisses along the knuckle and down the length of the faeries ring finger. A glint of light hit one shining fang before Soonyoung’s strength retracted it and maintained his shroud.

“Goodbye fair fae,” Soonyoung smiled before turning and not looking back as the trio melted into the forest.

==========

“You’re back,” Seokmin threw himself into the trio of vampires as they entered the cave where they were still sheltering. “What happened?” “I don’t understand yet,” Mingyu said as he tossed his tattered fox fur down onto the dirt floor, “but I met a faerie, wild and gruesome, and definitely untouched. I could smell the virgin blood coursing through his veins and he wore a crown of pearls and feathers in his hair.” He looked at his little brood, his brothers in arms ready to fight by his side, his baby vampires clinging to each other in fear and wonder as he reached up to feel the pearls now woven in his hair. 

“I found my crown now I just have to learn how to wield its power.”

They all gasped a little as Seokmin slipped into the safe comfort of Soonyoung’s arms. The peace was shattered when the turned vampire sniffed the air, then sniffed Soonyoung, and his bright expression turned as sour as spilled milk. “You smell strange,” he said and Soonyoung grinned brightly. “I met someone too. A faerie small and slight with hair as pink as his fresh petal cheeks.”

The moment the words left his lips Seokmin slipped from his arms and fled to the back of the cave. Soonyoung looked around at the group and shrugged a little sheepishly. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked with a nervous lilt and Seungkwan appeared from the shadows. “You can be such a stupid jerk.” He spat the words and stormed off in search of Seokmin and the other baby vampires followed. “Should I go after them?” Soonyoung asked nervously and Mingyu shook his head. “No,” he said with a hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder, “let them be.” 

He had bigger things to worry about.

“I’m going out for a while,” Mingyu said when he found Junhui sitting beside the entrance of the cave. Soonyoung had disappeared into the hidden van, clearly feeling unwelcome in the nest of baby vampires, but Junhui was still buzzing from his stomach full of fae blood. “Can I trust you to guard them well?” Junhui nodded despite the glazed look in his eye. “I will guard them with my life, you know that my Prince, when have I ever let you down?”

“You haven’t,” Mingyu settled beside him on the dirt and let his lieutenants head fall softly onto his shoulder. “But the heart can lead us astray from our path.” Junhui looked thoughtful in a moment of clarity and recognisance. “I feel like my heart is pulling me to the solution,” he smiled a little as he moved his head again and rested it on his forearms folded. “Me too,” Mingyu admitted. “But we may not all be in for the same fate.”

“Will you go to him?” Junhui stretched and flexed and prepared himself for the coming hours. “I will,” Mingyu stood too and picked up his tattered fox fur from the dirt floor. “The fox wouldn’t lead me astray. He is my salvation and my restoration and I need to find out how.”

“Don’t let them fight,” Mingyu’s last words fo Junhui as they parted were met with a knowing nod. “Soonyoung is confused and confusing,” Junhui waved Mingyu away. “Go find your crown. Don’t worry about us.”

And Mingyu was gone, the last of the fae blood in his stomach fuelling his flight through the forest. He landed on the beach and felt the damp sand through the holes in his boots and looked up at the wall facing the wild waves. It was spilling with amaranthus and he knew he had to be the right one.

Mingyu reached up and twirled the pearls in his hair, fingered the fine vanes of the white feather, and prayed to the moon hanging overhead that he wasn’t tumbling headfirst into a trap.

======

Wonwoo paced nervously. The taste of the man’s blood lingered on his tongue and he fidgeted with the edges of his robe. “Are you sure he’ll come?” Minghao asked and Wonwoo nodded. He eyed his best friend, his most devoted servant, who seemed alive with mischief this evening. “It’s almost here,” Wonwoo said as his fingers traced the edges of his robe decorated lavishly with pearls and feathers and embroidered with gold thread. “The hour of the owl approaches and I must wait.”

Minghao followed him outside and clambered onto the roof of the castle. “I’ll guard you from afar my Prince,” he smiled widely as he crawled across the stone tiles, “it seems I owe your suitor a favour.”

Wonwoo didn’t ask but he could smell the thick scent of his lover still spread across the fae’s stomach. He wanted to ask what Minghao knew, the Wuyi frog seemingly delighted beyond containment, the secrets held in his eyes making them shine. He’d noticed the change in his friend this night, the shrinking of his spots, the strengthening of his magic. Wonwoo knew he would find our soon enough what secrets Minghao was concealing.

“He’s coming,” Minghao called out and Wonwoo barely had time to react. The thud of his landing as he flew over the wall surprised Wonwoo into stumbling as he ran towards the man. Or fae. Or whatever he was, Wonwoo couldn’t tell, even by the iron tang of blood on his lips. He gathered his robes to aid his gait as he ran on bare feet across the courtyard. “You came,” he threw himself into Mingyu’s arms which were wide and welcoming and so so warm. “Of course,” Mingyu pressed his nose into the fae prince’s hair and inhaled.

Wonwoo melted into the touch, into the incredible warmth of the creature holding him, and bloodlust rose in his chest. “Come,” he said as he took Mingyu by the hand, “we’ll go down to the beach where we can be alone.” “Are we not alone?” Mingyu looked around carefully and a giggle like the ring of tiny bells broke the night.

“No, we aren’t,” Wonwoo smiled. He looked along the wall for somewhere to climb when he felt himself swept up into thick strong arms again. “I can fly,” Mingyu murmured in his ear as his grip tightened, “but first I must know. Do you trust me?”

Wonwoo stilled for just a moment. He knew nothing of this man, even if he was, or fae or other creature. He knew nothing of where he came from or what he intended but despite the tiny warning his brain threw up Wonwoo wasn’t afraid.

“I trust you,” he said and gasped as he was flung to a dizzying height. The flight was over before it began and they were landing softly in the damp sand of the beach below the castle walls.

“I have to have you,” Wonwoo keened. He craved the warmth the man, or fae, and slid his body against the other. Mingyu’s face was agreeing, consenting, but Wonwoo’s ears wanted to hear it. “Do you consent to become mine this evening? Will you allow me to lay you down in the sand and take what I want? What I need?” Wonwoo wrapped his arms around the others neck, his lips moving against the soft golden skin of his neck, the beat of his pulse tangible just below the surface.

“My Prince,” Mingyu husked as he tossed his head back and let Wonwoo lick a hot stripe turning cold along his neck. “I am already yours in every single way.”

They tumbled into the sand, a tangle of teeth and tongue and long limbs, Mingyu’s mouth pressing intently against Wonwoo’s. Wonwoo opened his willingly and let the other lick into his mouth, tasting his tongue, suckling harshly at the fae’s bottom lip. Wonwoo grabbed him and flipped, rolling the other beneath him, and the hunger in his stomach began to churn. “Mine,” he hissed harshly, savagely, carnal despite flooding his senses and driving his hips down against the other. He was already hard, his cock straining for relief, he’d never been this aroused in his short hazy memory. 

“I’m yours,” Mingyu whined beneath him and it made him even harder. Wonwoo leaned back and spread Mingyu wide so he could settle between his knees. He wanted to kiss him again but he also wanted to feel skin on skin and he tossed his robe aside after untying the cord belt. 

“The moon will be jealous, my love, your glowing beauty puts hers to shame.” Mingyu said as his hands trailed across his bare chest leaving fire in their wake. 

“Then share the burden of beauty and show me yours,” Wonwoo tugged at the sleeves of the tattered fox fur and pulled it from Mingyu’s body. He tossed it into the sand and a handful of pebbles fell from the pocket and scattered. The moon moved and the air shifted and the creature below him was suddenly exposed; his nature clear and obvious.

“Anthropophagus,” Wonwoo stared down at him and Mingyu smiled sheepishly. “Vampire,” he replied as his eyes blinked gentle and genuine and without any hint of concealment. It all suddenly made sense. The blood on his cheeks and the strength in his arms and the craving deep inside his body. Wonwoo smiled down at the vampire prince and giggled a little maniacally. “Submit to me, vampire prince, give yourself to me.” “I will,” Mingyu said as he pulled the shirt from his body tearing and tangling it into tatters. He shed his trousers and old holey boots and when he was naked and spread before him Wonwoo’s craving hit its peak. 

“I guess you want to drink from me?” Wonwoo smirked as his fingers ran from Mingyu’s neck, down his chest scattered with a fine sprinkle of hair, across his muscled stomach and finally even lower. “My Prince,” Mingyu arched his back and Wonwoo pushed a finger inside him roughly, “I’ll take whatever you deem welcome to give. I am but your loyal servant waiting for whatever you will spare for me.” 

The heat inside him was incredible, almost unbearable, and Wonwoo wanted to taste it. He let his finger slip free and pulled Mingyu’s knees high and bent them back towards his head. “If I was a vampire,” Wonwoo leaned down and sucked the inside of his thigh, “this is where I’d feed from you.” He sucked harder and drew a whine from Mingyu’s lips as he bruised the inside of one thigh and then the other. “I’d drink from you until you passed out and I’d fuck you while you were unconscious.”His tongue pressed as deep inside Mingyu’s tight hole as he could force it. The scent of the vampire’s arousal intensified and Wonwoo presses harder, fucking Mingyu with his mouth, his tongue searching and insistent.

“My Prince,” Mingyu moaned loudly, the only sound in the darkness. “Make me yours. Own me like you deserve.” His legs splayed wide and his hands searched Wonwoo’s hair for something to hold onto and feathers loosened and whirled around them in the brisk night air. “Don’t you want me to open you up first?” Wonwoo replaced his tongue with a finger, then two, as Mingyu’s hips bore down. “I’m trying to be gentle with you,” Wonwoo smiled at the prince splayed wide in front of him. “Don’t you want me to be gentle?”

“No,” the vampire whined as he writhed into Wonwoo’s touch. The fae curled his fingers and leaned over him to kiss gently down his neck. How he envied the vampire and wished he could bite down, drink and fuck and consume and own, make the other submit in every way. “You want it harsh and rough?” Wonwoo bit down regardless. He had no fangs but his teeth almost broke the skin and Mingyu keened loudly below him. “Please,” he gasped and Wonwoo licked and sucked over the pulse point throbbing in the vampires neck. 

“Okay,” Wonwoo shed his pants and settled comfortably between the vampires soft thighs. He felt like this was the only place in the world he belonged and he took one glance up at the moon overhead. The sky was clear and there was nothing concealing their nakedness from the night. It was all laid bare.

Mingyu grunted as Wonwoo pushed inside him. Wonwoo slowed his thrust, trying to inch slowly and gently, but Mingyu’s big hands gripped his ass and urged him closer; deeper. “You can’t hurt me,” he whispered and Wonwoo realised he was right. The vampires pain tolerance would be high. He sighed and exhaled into Mingyu’s neck as he buried his cock deep inside him. And for a moment, just seconds, time stopped and neither moved.

This was what Wonwoo had been craving. His urges, his bloodlust, his unfounded desires for the macabre and the carnal, all was satiated as he drove his cock just a little deeper. The hot clench of Mingyu’s body was like ice cold fire as Wonwoo pulled out all the way to the tip. “I want to taste you,” he said as he drove back in hard, deep and harsh, and Mingyu’s body clenched and tensed in ecstasy. “Here,” Mingyu brought his wrist to his lips and pierced the skin with a fang. “Take as much of me as you want,” Mingyu held his wrist out and at the first mouthful Wonwoo felt pleasure pool in his stomach. 

“You’re incredible,” he said, mouth bloody and agape, hips thrusting wildly and with abandon. “You make me feel so alive,” he gasped and his head spun when Mingyu grabbed him and flipped them over.

Wonwoo’s back stung as it dragged up and down the wet sand. Mingyu’s hips rolled as he rode the faerie hard and fast, ass clenching so tight, the wet heat of his body sending sensations down Wonwoo’s cock he never imagined possible. “More,” Wonwoo grabbed his wrist and suckled again filling his mouth with vampire blood and darkening his pupils into a dilated haze. “Can I?” Mingyu asked breathlessly as he rode him faster, hips raising up just to slam back down, and Wonwoo nodded. “Take what you want from me,” he tossed his head back and exposed his neck and the pain from Mingyu’s fangs sent him into an instant orgasm.

Wonwoo came and his body arched and his eyes shot up to the sky. He grabbed for Mingyu’s wrist and drank deeply as the vampire drank from him and covered Wonwoo’s stomach in his cum. It felt hot in the cold air and Wonwoo could feel the heat, on the outside of his body from Mingyu’s seed, on the inside as his stomach filled with Mingyu’s blood. For the first time in as long as he could remember he felt whole, complete, like things were sliding into place.

His head spun and stars danced before his eyes and it took a long time for him to come down from the high. When he regained his senses he was comforted by the warm weight of Mingyu collapsed on top of him, the vampire’s body still holding his cock inside, his face buried damp and sticky against Wonwoo’s neck. 

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo whispered, “time is behaving strangely. We’ve been out here for hours and the nightingale will soon sing.” When he pulled his face up from Wonwoo’s neck he saw the vampires mouth bloody and his cheeks streaked with tears.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Mingyu clung to him and sobbed. He shifted his weight and Wonwoo’s softening cock slipped wet from his ass and it made the vampire whine with disappointment. “It’s just for a little while,” Wonwoo stroked his hair and offered uncharacteristically warm comfort. His bloodlust satiated made him feel relaxed and calm. For the first time in his short memory he felt happy; truly happy.

“Come on,” Wonwoo pushed the tall vampire gently and forced him to sit up. They were filthy, a mess of cum and blood and sand, and Wonwoo never wanted to bathe again. “How do you feel?” he asked as he wrapped himself in his robe and watched Mingyu’s cum seep though the fabric and stain the embroidery. “Strange,” Mingyu said. “I’ve never felt so strong. I’ve never been much of a fighter but I feel like I could take on anyone. I want to fly and fuck and feast.” Wonwoo gasped as he was gathered in Mingyu’s arms and spun around. The vampire was still naked and his golden body was glowing in the fast approaching dawn. “I just want to stay with you.” 

“I want to stay with you too,” Wonwoo admitted but the aurora was fast breaching the horizon. “Come again tonight, the hour of the owl, and we will try to work out what all this means.”

Mingyu, still bare, dropped to his knees and grabbed for Wonwoo’s hand. “My Prince, you have made me more of what I need to be, I feel myself becoming whole again.” He kissed the knuckles before standing and drawing him into a deep kiss. The moon watched down on them as feathers swirled and the spray of the sea scattered fine and tiny droplets of ice across their bare skin. 

“Till tonight,” Wonwoo pulled away from the kiss, their mouths a mess of blood and gore. “Tonight,” Mingyu agreed. He lifted Wonwoo close to his body and within seconds he was placing him gently back in the courtyard of his rooms. 

When Wonwoo blinked again he was gone and all that remained was the bloody mess on his face and hands and the smears of cum on his stomach.

The laugh was loud, no longer a giggle but a full on guffaw, as Minghao swung himself down from the roof. “Someone made a mess....” he singsonged as he pulled at the Prince’s robe and Wonwoo grabbed him and growled playfully.

“You knew!” he said and the giggles were back as Minghao melted into his prince’s arms. “Of course I knew! What, you couldn’t smell vampire all over him? He smells of cold iron fisted death.” Minghao tossed his robe open and chuckled delightedly as his fingers picked at the dried cum and blood. “Now we match my Prince. A pair of vampire lovers to make us strong enough to rule this place.” 

“Was the concealment charm yours too?” Wonwoo walked over to make some tea and Minghao nodded. “Yes, you owe me a favour at your leisure my Prince, it was of course I who smuggled them in for you to liven your party up a little.” “Well you certainly achieved that,” Wonwoo made the tea as he watched Minghao leap onto the high courtyard wall and look down on the beach. “He’s still dressing,” he turned with a smirk, “your lover is built big and strong.”

“He is,” Wownoo sipped his tea and wondered what it all meant. The vampire blood congealed in his stomach made him feel a little sleepy and just as the sun was coming up he laid his pretty head down in a bed of fine white silk. “He’s gone now, flew away,” Minghao joined him and curled up around his Prince as blood and pond mud stained the silks below them and they both slipped into a deep calm sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im back with this after three months - a big big thank you to Maddie on twt for asking for this - and of course Andie my love who is endless in her support of everything I do.
> 
> Sometimes all you have to do is ask 🌷 if no one asks then I assume no one wants it

The night had never been more alive.

Mingyu could feel it buzzing through his veins as he flew across the treetops. The scent of something warm and pulsing hit his nostrils and, usually much less sensitive, he inhaled. He hadn’t felt the desire to breathe for hundreds of years and suddenly the craving for oxygen filled his heart.

He scented the iron thick smell of blood and his fangs popped out unbidden. His body, a livewire of fae blood and awakened instincts, sprang into action before his brain could catch up. The woman was straggling across a dark expanse of open ground, clearly headed to relive herself in the trees, leaving behind a tent of companions none the wiser.

Mingyu was full but he had children to feed. He swooped down from the treetops and snared her in his iron grip before she could even make a sound. She struggled, no match for the intoxicated vampire, more an annoyance than anything. “Sleep,” Mingyu whispered and she immediately went limp and the vagrant prince looked around at no one in shock.

_Since when could he do that?_

Spurred into action by the feint line of light on the horizon, he tucked the limp woman under his arm and flew away.

“Food,” he announced as he entered the cave and they were immediately all over him. “My Prince!” Soonyoung nuzzled up to the Prince’s neck where his blood pumped close to the skin. “You smell delicious….” “Here,” he said as he dumped the unconscious human into the dust on the floor of the cave. “Don’t say I don’t ever bring you anything.” 

He smiled first at Soonyoung, still nuzzling him like a cat, and over at Junhui licking his lips in delight. “Wake her up!” Junhui said as he flexed his fingers and his eyes danced with mischief. “I want to fight! Let’s let her try and run.” “Noooooo…” Soonyoung whined as he stared up at Mingyu’s eyes begging for his own way. “I don’t like the way the adrenaline tastes.” “Well I do,” Junhui frowned petulantly and pulled at her lifeless arm. “I want to run!”

“Stop!” Mingyu scowled at both of them. “We have babies here to think about. Your selfish ways embarrass me.” He had a new air about him, always authoritarian, now positively regal. “Where are they?” 

“We’re here,” Seungkwan and Hansol slipped out of the shadows with Chan straggling behind them. They looked pale and gaunt, all big eyes and sharp cheekbones, and Mingyu’s chest clenched at the sight. “Where is Seokmin?”

“He won’t come out,” Seungkwan said. “He doesn’t want to see her die.” Mingyu sighed. He sometimes forgot Seokmin was a turned. He’d settled so well into their family it seemed like he’d been one of them forever.

“Soonyoung can you help him?” he asked and shook his arm free from the vampire’s grip. The only thing that seemed to soothe the turned vampire’s jittery nerves was the presence of the vampire lieutenant whom he obviously adored. When Soonyoung walked by the baby vampire it was like the whole world walked in his wake. Mingyu wondered why Soonyoung other couldn’t see it; maybe he only saw what he chose to see.

“You go first,” Seungkwan said to Hansol who shuddered. “As hungry as I am; you go first.” They clung to each other and bickered before Chan finally pushed them aside. “I’m starving. I’ll go first.” Mingyu held her wrists because he wasn’t sure if she’d wake up but it didn’t matter anyway. There was no way she was leaving this cave alive.

Chan inhaled her scent, crawling over her limp body, lingering at her neck. He looked to Mingyu for direction and the Prince tapped his fingers on her wrist. Chan grinned manically, eyes changing from warm chocolate to cold obsidian as his fangs extended, taking her wrist and biting down. Her eyes flew open in shock, but she was too terrified to even fight them. Chan drank greedily, making little sucking sounds of delight, spurring the others into a frenzy. Seungkwan and Hansol climbed over her to drink from her other wrist and neck as the light began to drain from her eyes.

They spared little; none went to waste. As the excess ran down her arms Junhui joined them and Soonyoung led Seokmin from the shadows with his hands covering the turned vampire’s face. “Close your eyes,” Soonyoung whispered to him as they settled in the dirt next to the half lifeless body prostrate on the floor. Soonyoung stroked Seokmin’s hair with one hand as he used the other to scrape up the leaking blood and feed it to him by hand. Mingyu watched his most savage lieutenant hand feed the baby vampire so carefully and lovingly it made him feel warm all over.

Seokmin trusted the older vampire so implicitly. He lay languid in his arms and let Soonyoung feed him the woman’s blood drop by drop, sucking it eagerly from his fingertips and lapping it up from his palm. Colour began to fill his face and by the time he opened his eyes he was flushed and warm looking. His pupils were blown wide and black and his fangs were out for the first time anyone had ever seen. More blood would do him good, Mingyu mused, one day he might even be able to hunt.

Watching Soonyoung coddle the baby vampire made something flare inside Mingyu’s heart. A burning need to procreate, to maybe one day be someone’s maker, to have a baby of his own. A beautiful savage baby, one with an insatiable hunger for carnal desire, one who could run like the wind and slip silently through the trees and bun with a craving to take what it wanted. A baby he could be proud of with a little of Wonwoo inside it as well; a baby that belonged to them both.

Tears filled his eyes again and Mingyu left them to eat. The woman wasn’t even struggling anymore, limp and lifeless and blank, as they sucked and pulled at her limbs and drained her body of its life. Light was just cresting the curve of the horizon and he wasn’t surprised to see the fox waiting for him outside. Time had been moving so strangely since he’d let Wonwoo take him in the sand.

“My Prince,” the animal guide bowed his head and Mingyu had never heard him more clearly.

“Am I on the right path?” he asked and the fox yipped excitedly. “You are. Your crown has been found. He has been in your arms already and now you must discover what this means. How both of you can unlock your true power and sit side by side on the throne you were born to.”

His crown? Wonwoo was definitely the key to his crown?

_Of course._

Amaranthus, beautiful and everlasting, wilful and magical and darkly powerful. Love-Lies-Bleeding, a symbol of hopelessness but immortality. Their love could be eternal. 

His crown was fae, magical and beautiful, crafted from feathers and pearls and swathes of Amaranthus. His crown was pulsing with life and rippled with vivacity and a sullen sort of joy. Wonwoo was his crown and he’d finally discovered him. Was he finding him for the first time thought? Or were his memories defective and lying to his own mind; was his recollection wiped clean? Were they meeting for the first time or were they star crossed lovers drawn apart in the past only to yearn for something they couldn’t quite remember?

“Those questions are yours to seek the answers to yourself,” the fox waved its tail as its eyes pieced the night. They reminded Mingyu of another set of piercing eyes that had burned their memory into his soul. The fox could read his thoughts aloud but Mingyu wasn’t afraid. He was on the right path; he had to be. The patchwork of threads and fragments were just beginning to pull tight and mend themselves into a clear picture.

“How? Where do we look?” the wind whipped up around him and he pulled his tattered furs closer to his body. “Down,” the fox said with a soft grin terrifying on its features. “To move up you must look down.”

_Of course._ The Prince’s Feather grew towards the sky, reaching its blood red tendrils towards the moon goddess. But Love Lies Bleeding drips towards the earth in search of twilight shadow.

With a swirl of feathers and the seeds of Amaranthus dancing on the breeze the fox was gone.

The cave smelled of blood and death and Mingyu sighed with defeat. He loved his little family, his macabe family of chaos and destruction, but he wished they would clean up after themselfes. Scattered in satiated piles around the edges they slept or lay in satisficed silcnece. 

All except for Seokmin, his fragile turned heart breaking so quietly, nestled in Soonyung’s strong arms. He sobbed the last of his humanity free like he wasn’t willing to let it go. Soonyoung just held him close and Mingyu had to look away. Soonyoung was going to break his heart all over again and he didn’t even realise.

Mingyu dragged the body out of the cave leaving damp streaks of coagulating blood in the dust. He dragged her all the way down to the creek nearby and he suddenly realised he couldn’t just toss her in. Any suspicious activity would lead the humans to them, or worse, to the fae citadel on the cliff by the ocean. He couldn’t put Wownoo at risk. Not now, not when they were close to the answers they needed.

He crouched down on the sandy creekbed and pulled one arm from her body, then the other. Her drained veins made this gruesome process a little easier; at least she wasn’t spraying blood everywhere. Mingyu thanked the moon goddess above that his precious little Seokmin wasn’t around to see him tear the woman’s body apart with his bare hands and disregard her humanity with such little respect. She didn’t need it anymore anyway.

When she was shattered into pieces he found some rocks and some vines. Her arms he discarded; the fish in the rushing river would make short work of those. They’d clean the flesh free and the small animals of the forest would scatter the bones to the wind. He stuffed the remains of the shirt still covering her torso with rocks and bound them crudely with vines. When he tossed her into the river he sighed with relief to see her sink to the bottom. 

Her legs went next and then he scowled over what to do with her head. Her eyes were dark, her featured a pretty mask of death and fear, and he suddenly knew exactly what to do with it. He knew of only one creature who would love a trophy, a gruesome gift of gore, a devoted offering rotting in the breaking Aurora. He judged his time limited but grabbed her by her hair and leaped into the sky anyway. He’d burn in the sun if that’s what it took to make Wonwoo smile with a gift.

Wonwoo had just drifted off, arms posessively curled around Minghao’s stomach, when he heard a knock on his balcony window. Stirred and incessantly curious, he let go of his frog faerie and padded over to the window.

“Oh!” he gasped out loud when he opened the curtains. Balanced in a wreath of blood crimson amaranthus, the Prince’s Feather that adorned the palace walls, was the severed head of a human.

_**“Beauty fades but my love is everlasting like the flowers of the immortal Amaranthus.”** _

Wonwoo read aloud the note tucked into her matted blonde hair. “Oh, Minghao, you have to see....” he pulled at Minghao’s robes to wake him. “Wake up! I have a gift, and not just any gift, a generous gift the likes of which I’ve never even dreamed of!”

Minghao’s amusement sparkled across his features with wry mirth and merriment. Finally, something to please the grotesque tastes of his Prince, the faerie seemed to have definitely met his match in the handsome but beggarly Prince.

“You can’t bring it in here no matter how much you love it,” Minghao’s nose wrinkled, “it will begin to smell soon. The brain is still inside, and the eyes....” he reached out and stuck a finger between cold blue lips. “And the tongue as well. It will rot. The tongue of a human is the first thing to rot.”

Wonwoo’s excitement was palpable, incandescent with the glow of romance and chivalry. “I’ll find a place outside,” he walked out to the balcony and snapped the end off a branch on one of the lemon trees adorning his garden. 

“There!” 

With a flourish he stabbed the head down on the stick, impaling the head like it was on a pike. The remainder of what blood wasn’t drained dripped down the branch and Wonwoo’s eyes shone with madness. He could feel the touch of vampire pulsing within him, his cum, his blood, his love. It filled the gaps inside his soul with magic and danger and a craving for violence. _For blood._

“We must sleep,” Minghao tugged at his sleeve and Wonwoo nodded. They’d need all the strength they could muster to keep up with the vampires and they clutched at each other for comfort as they nestled into their dirty silks.

_“Where am I?” Wonwoo murmured as the fog of sleep clouded his mind._

_“Who are you?” the fox smiled at him, unnerving, macabre in its humanity on the animal’s face. “Who are you is a better question.”_

_The fox strode towards him as bold as ever. “What are you? That is an even more pertinent question.”_

_Wonwoo sat up and looked around. He was still swathed in the mess of his beachside tryst, sand and blood and the vampire’s cum staining his robes. His bed was a mess of sweat and salt but otherwise empty; Minghao was nowhere to be seen._

_Was it dawn or sunset? He couldn’t tell. The light creeping in was cold and bleak, illuminating nothing, bouncing off the walls like the floor was water. Time was moving strangely, and his body was as well. He still had a little of the vampire blood inside him and he could feel it like electricity tingling in his veins. It sharpened all of his senses, making him feel strong and alive, hungrier than ever._

_More than hungry, yearning for blood and death and the sounds of pain, the ripping feeling of digging claws into flesh, the sinking satisfaction of a stomach full of flesh and blood._

_“What am I?’ he asked, and the fox coughed out a laugh. “That is for you to find out. He will help you. Follow his lead, take his hand and walk with him, be all that he needs you to be.”_

_Wonwoo didn’t have to ask who. He knew. As soon as he saw him he knew the vampire prince was his. It was like being missing a limb and suddenly finding not only could he walk but fly._

_Fly…. Wonwoo felt like he could fly. He had no wings, it was not a clan trait, but the energy inside him was buzzing with power. He’d never felt more powerful in his life. He wondered if more vampire blood would be the key to unlocking his missing memories, his elusive powers and the growing strength in his limbs and his mind._

_“Will he hurt me?” Wonwoo looked around to try and grasp some semblance of where he was. Feathers were falling like rain around him but he was definitely still inside his bedroom. He reached out towards the fox, grinning its maniacal smile, the waving of its tail sending down and ash flying into the air. “He cannot hurt you. He is you.” The fox turned towards the open window leading to the balcony._

_“Wait!” Wonwoo called out. He jumped from his bed but the fox was already leaping onto the balcony wall. He ran outside, robes spilling behind him, stained pink and red and white with blood. “Wait, I have more questions….” He reached out to grab for the fox on the wall but he disappeared over the side. He wanted nothing more than to catch him and he found himself imagining it, envisioning leaping the wall in a single bound._

_A ripping sound tore through the air and Wonwoo doubled over in pain. Tears of blood streaked his cheeks as two great wings unfurled from his shoulder blades like a butterfly released from its chrysalis prison. He shrieked and shook and let a bloodcurdling scream rip from his throat before sinking to the ground sobbing._

_The wings shook themselves, shaking the blood from their feathers, working with an instinct all of their own. When they dried they were white, pearlescent and gild around the tips with gold, and the most beautiful things Wonwoo had ever seen. He turned this way and that before stretching them and when he left the ground he cried rivers of blood like the opening of a great dam._

_He flew over the balcony wall to the beach below where indentations in the wet sand still mapped his moments with Mingyu. When he landed his feet barely made a mark and he padded over to the water’s edge so he could see them in all their glory. Buffeted by the wind they unfurled and shone as bright as the moon in the reflection. They were stunning and curled around him like the vicious fangs of a coronet glinting with murder in the moonlight._

_Wonwoo bent the knee to the moon goddess above and wept with happiness. With his brand new wings stretched out behind him and the vampire blood pulsing though his veins his insatiable hunger was finally satisfied._

_He shook them free and whipped them into a frenzy as he flew back up to his bedchamber. He climbed into his bed, wrapped his wings around his sandy body, and drifted off back to sleep._

When he woke he felt impossibly hot. “Minghao,” he kicked at the little wuyi frog still curled up beside him. “Hao! Wake up! I have wings.” “What?” Minghao tried to rub the sleep from his eyes as they flashed yellow then red then brown again. His pupils blew wide and then narrowed into normality as he focused and examined Wonwoo all over. “No you don’t,” he said as he ran his huge hands down the sleek silks of Wonwoo’s robe. “I swear, they were there…..” Wonwoo sniffled again and fisted the streaks of dried blood on his cheeks. “I swear they felt so real.”

“Let me see,” Minghao cooed as his usual mischief fell subdued. He pulled at Wonwoo’s robes and the naughtiness of his nature flared into life at the sight of bruises dotting Wonwoo’s alabaster skin. “Your vampire is wild,” he smirked and Wonwoo pulled at the neckline of Minghao’s own brown and green muddy robes. “Show me where your lover likes to taste you!” he laughed, and it went all the way up to his eyes.

“I’m happy to see you so happy, my prince…” Minghao murmured as he freed Wonwoo’s broad shoulders. “I have never seen you with such a glow.” He pulled at the robe and when Wonwoo was bare Minghao couldn’t conceal his gasp. “You are scarred…” his fingertips traced the fresh scars, pink and raised and shining down the centre of Wonwoo’s back between his shoulder blades. “Something was definitely here.” “I wasn’t scarred like this yesterday,” he said to his beloved frog companion. “Did I dream it or did the fox really come to me?”

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Minghao pulled the robe back up around his shoulders. “But I was here all night and I know you didn’t leave. I would have noticed.” He slid a hand, warm and alive, into Wonwoo’s and squeezed and for a moment there was nothing in the world but two best friends nestled into a swathe of silks and sand.

“What are you going to do?” Minghao broke the silence and Wonwoo shrugged. “Hope he comes to me again this night, wait for him to show me the way to the truth, maybe he knows more than I do.”

He squealed with delight as Minghao sprang from the bed like the frog he really was. He pulled at the sheets and began to drag them into the garden beyond the double doors. “What are you doing?” Wonwoo laughed loud and bright as he followed the faerie outside. “Hiding the evidence! We need to get rid of these sheets and shower and clean our bodies too!” 

Minghao began to strip his robes and Wonwoo had to reach out a hand to stop him. “Not in the mud,” he laughed in the warmth of the sun, head tipped back to face the brightness of its harsh rays. “Minghao, have you ever had a bubble bath?” “Bubble bath?” the frog echoed with widening eyes. “Come on,” Wonwoo pulled him by his hand and dragged him back into the bedchamber.

Bubbles overflowed from the deep concrete tub as Minghao slid his naked body around. He squealed with loud laughter and kicked his feet until Wonwoo grabbed one to stop him. He held the flesh in his hand, so human until you noticed the differences, the brown spots freckling his extremities, the gossamer thin webs between his toes. Wonwoo was remindedof the gift that Minghao was; a companion once frog turned fae by his guardian.

“I’m happy to have you,” he said softly. He let go of Minghao’s foot and it slid back under the bubbles. “I’m happy to be here for you,” the little frog smiled back. They sat in a satisfied silence for a while, luxuriating in the warm bubbles, before Minghao cleared his throat.

“I hope the pit viper comes this evening. Will you be terribly disappointed if your Prince doesn’t come alone?”

Wonwoo shook his head. He wanted the happiness of his friend, he knew somehow Minghao’s fate was inexplicably tangled with his own, just like their bare limbs tangled beneath the water. “I’ll hope for your lover to come and take you this eve,” Wownoo had smiled more today than he ever had in his whole life. “I’ll help you dress and make sure you’re a dish the pit viper cannot wait to devour.”

After hiding from the searing blaze of day Mingyu was waking. He was stretched out on an old square of carpet with his tattered fur beneath his head like a pillow. He groaned aloud and reached down to adjust the erection building in his jeans. He couldn’t get the scent of Wonwoo’s fae blood out of his mind even when sleeping. The urge to cover Wonwoo’s body with his own while he drank deep from his neck buzzed under Mingyu’s skin like electricity and made him shift with nervous excitement.

He brushed the dirt from his clothes and wished he had something better to wear. Something befitting the suitor of a handsome Prince. No use ruing what cannot be changed; he ran hands through his dark lustreless hair and walked out into the main cave.

The collection of baby vampires still wore their faces with timidness and wary energy. The meal that morning had significantly improved their constitution. They now greeted their Prince with rosy cheeks and bright shining eyes and the room was filled with laughter. It made Mingyu’s heart sing; his young vampires would live and that was a significant improvement in his fortunes.

“Are you going to see your fae lover?” Junhui asked as he sidled up to his Prince. “Yes, we need answers, there are too many questions....” Mingyu looked around at the cave. It was substandard and he wanted to look for something closer to the fae citadel.

“May I come?” Junhui fluttered his lashes flirtatiously. “A certain little Wuyi frog has captured by attention in a way in never predicted.” Junhui licked his lips and grinned lasciviously but there was a tenderness behind his eyes that made Mingyu stop and stare.

“You may,” he granted. He might need the assistance of his most terrifying lieutenant; he had no idea how powerful the faeries in the huge manse could be. Wonwoo would never hurt him, in that he could trust, but even at a distance the Champion of Roses was petrifying in his beauty and the Lavender Sentinel radiated pure vigour. 

Mingyu was also intrigued by the tenderness in the pit viper’s expression whenever he mentioned the little frog faerie who was his Prince’s most treasured companion. Junhuis serpent heart hid behind his flowering beauty and if it had been captured Mingyu needed to know the captor.

“I want to come too,” Soonyoung pouted as he pulled himself free from Seokmin’s embrace. “I want to find the little pink faerie with the scent of dianthus and discover if he tastes just as sweet as he looks.”

“You will do no such thing,” Mingyu’s patience ran thin and he bit down on his lip in frustration. “You will remember your responsibility to me and to this family and remain to keep guard.”

Mingyu pulled him close to whisper in his ear; his words both a threat and a blessing.

“I ask you to go wisely my brother,” he whispered, “for sometimes when we seek something that doesn’t want to be sought we fall. But what we want may be right under our nose if we can just learn where to look.”

Soonyoung furrowed his brow in confusion but he knew better than to argue.

He stood in the entrance of the cave with the clutch of baby vampires behind him as Mingyu and Junhui vanished into the night. “Come on,” he turned and held a hand out to Chan. “Let’s all go play down by the creek. We need to get out of this cave.”


End file.
